Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Airbnb relaxes restrictions to gain access to Singapore market
 Private homeowners in Singapore are currently not allowed to rent out their properties for less than three consecutive months. Before 30 June the minimum lease period was six months, but this was changed to give more choices to visiting academics and students.

"The revised minimum stay duration will provide these groups with more accommodation options. It will also provide more rental opportunities for property owners seeking to rent out their properties. Hotels and serviced apartments will continue to cater to visitors on shorter stays," Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said at the time.

However, the URA is also reviewing its guidelines to allow short-term rentals, and Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk is keen to encourage this.

Blecharczyk told The Business Times that the giving more access to management bodies would help to make neighbours and residents feel comfortable with who was in their building.

Some of the URA's concerns could be alleviated by Airbnb's "friendly buildings programme", he told the Business Times.

"This enables building management to be given visibility into the Airbnb system to see when guests are arriving and departing from that building, what kind of vetting has been done in relation to their backgrounds, as well as set some basic restrictions on how long people can stay and other criteria that the building (management) might care about - so it allows for some customisation," he said.

Airbnb may also share the commission on rentals with building management, The Business Times reported.

"The building (management) can define a service fee that gets collected on each transaction. That money can be set aside to help everybody in the building," Blecharczyk told the newspaper.

Landlords who have tenants that want to be Airbnb hosts would benefit, as tenants would need to sign a "lease addendum" on hosting terms including how much commission the landlord will earn on the hosts' profit. Landlords would be informed about guest check-in and check-out dates, the number of guests and host earnings.

The programme has been used in the US and Australia, and is being extended around the world. "I think it's very relevant to Singapore," said Blecharczyk.

Output: Airbnb may extend its 'friendly buildings programme' to Singapore as it seeks ways to accommodate the country's strict home-sharing rules, according to co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk. Speaking to The Business Times, he said the Singapore's Urban Redevelopment Authority's concerns could be alleviated with the programme, which offers more visibility regarding arrivals and departures, and hinted the company may share some commission with building management.


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Chinese edtech MagicEars raises $6m for English tutoring
 MAGICEARS, a Beijing-based English learning startup, has raised its first investment: $6 million from the Bob Xu ZhenEdu Fund and online tutoring company Yuanfudao. According to a press announcement, MagicEars will use the funds to further develop the company’s teaching and research platform.

The deal comes only a few days after Chinese online tutoring startup VIPKID nabbed a $200 million Series D round, valuing the company at nearly $1.5 billion. “The demand of online English learning for children has been very clear, and the market size is scaling up,” Jiang Min, vice president of ZhenEdu Fund said in a prepared statement.

Instructors can upload their own teaching videos to the VIPKID platform, where users can pick out who they want to learn from. Meanwhile teachers on MargicEars, who “have a professional English teaching certification” lead virtual classes with about four students at a time. Launched in March 2017, MagicEars aims to reach Chinese students ages 5 to 12, and tuition ranges from around $600 to $1,050 USD.

Output: MagicEars, the Beijing-based English language tutoring start-up, has raised $6m in first round funding from the Bob Xu ZhenEdu Fund and online tutoring company Yuanfudao. MagicEars will use the funds to develop its teaching and research platform. Launched last March MagicEars teaches English to Chinese students aged five to 12 via virtual classes. Reflecting the growing demand for online English learning the deal came a few days after Chinese tutoring start-up Vipkid secured a $200m series D round of funding, valuing the company at nearly $1.5bn.


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ZingBox to work with VMware to improve IoT security
 ZingBox Announces Collaboration with VMware

IoT security solution provider ZingBox recently announced that it will collaborate with VMware, a provider of cloud computing and platform virtualization software and services. Together, the two companies aim to bring enhanced security to enterprise IoT implementations.

"One of the primary goals, and really the only goal [for ZingBox] is to secure IoT devices. What we recognize is that the security infrastructure, the security solutions that have been developed along with the typical IT assets like the laptops and the PCs of the world don’t apply very well to IoT," says John Yun, head of marketing at ZingBox. "We took a fresh look at what the requirements [of IoT] are and developed a security solution specifically for IoT. Our solution is agentless, you don't put any agents on the devices at all, and there's no disruption of communication or any type of performance degradation for these IoT devices.

"We like to think of it as, we took a totally fresh and revolutionary approach to IoT security. [It's] not something that we're trying to extend from the traditional IT side of the world in the hopes that it applies to IoT."

The collaboration will see Zingbox's agentless solution for IoT security team up with VMware’s Pulse IoT Center solution. According to VMware's website, the Pulse IoT Center solution is "an end-to-end infrastructure management solution that enables OT and IT organizations to on-board, manage, monitor, and secure their IoT use cases." More specifically, according to the website, the solution aims to:

Simplify IoT complexity by enabling easy management across a diverse set of things.

Improve reliability by providing accurate, real-time visibility of thing "health."

Accelerate ROI by streamlining and accelerating how the IoT gets deployed and scaled.

Provide peace of mind by securing IoT infrastructure across things, networks, and applications.

"VMware [has] a strong focus on IoT, being able to secure those devices as well as manage them and be able to put security in place. The reason that our synergies lined up really well is that we both have a focus towards having a consolidated solution, meaning that you shouldn’t have a separate solution for IT assets and a totally separate solution for IoT assets," Yun says. "You would almost need to have two separate organizations to manage that and somehow hope that they would talk to each other. We very much have a common vision that this is a problem that needs to be solved for the entire organization, not just one department versus another."

Output: ZingBox is partnering with VMware to enhance security on internet of things (IoT) devices. IoT security provider ZingBox said that security software for traditional IT assets such as laptops does not apply as well to IoT. The collaboration with cloud computing provider VMware is intended to improve reliability and secure IoT infrastructure across devices, applications and networks, with the emphasis on a consolidated solution that works both for IT and IoT.


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Hotel-style properties catch on in London's build-to-rent boom
 N ew homes are being built especially for renters, as reports estimate that nearly a quarter of households are expected to be renting by 2021.

The build-to-rent sector is worth an estimated £25 billion, according to Knight Frank, and is expected to rise to £70 billion within the next five years as renters continue to be priced out of the housing market.

London accounts for half of the 60,000 build-to-rent homes under construction or in the pipeline across Britain, but this serves only a fraction of the expected demand from two million renters in the capital.

The boom in the capital's build-to-rent sector is resulting in thousands of boutique new homes becoming available.

Good transport links for an easy commute is said to be the top priority for Londoners looking for rental accommodation, even more so than staying within budget.

Prices at the developments we've spoken to start from about £250 per week, but can swiftly rise depending on location and level of services offered, which can include fully furnished flats with free wi-fi, 24-hour concierge and hotel-style reception.

The rise of build-to-rent

The letting market is dominated by buy-to-let investors, with at least three quarters of tenants living in homes managed by private landlords.

However, this could all be set to change as build-to-rent developments owned by large-scale corporate landlords are on the rise.

Build-to-rent is said to offer more variety of homes for renters to choose from and, possibly, more security because tenancy contracts of up to three years are on offer.

Essential Living’s first build-to-rent development, Vantage Point in Islington is set above Archway Tube station and opened in September 2016. Residents have access to a duplex lounge and dining space.

Such developments will also offer benefits including communal living spaces, gyms, pools and car-sharing facilities, as well as fully furnished accommodation.

The Knight Frank report reveals that in London more than half of renters are spending more than 40 per cent of their incomes on rent, rising to 62 per cent across the UK.

However, the reason for the soaring number of renters is highlighted by separate research from Hamptons International which suggests that it would take more than 18 years for a typical single Londoner to save a 15 per cent deposit to buy a home. Even a couple saving together would take more than 11 years.

Output: The UK's build-to-rent boom has led to an increase in boutique accommodation that includes communal living spaces, gyms, pools and car-sharing facilities, according to a report by estate agent Knight Frank. It revealed half the 60,000 buy-to-rent properties in the pipeline are in London, with demand in the capital expected to reach two million people. In addition, the study found more than half of renters in the capital are spending at least 40% of their income on rent. The build-to-rent sector is worth about £25bn, a figure that is expected to rise to £70bn over the next five years.


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San Diego battles deadliest hepatitis A outbreak in decades
 Fourteen people have died from an outbreak of hepatitis A in San Diego, and experts believe it to be the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the US in decades, the Guardian has learned.

In large part, the victims were homeless people who have had to contend with a lack of 24-hour public restrooms, even though hand-washing is one of the best defenses against infection.

The number of cases has exceeded other large outbreaks, said a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) spokesperson, and is “likely the most deaths in an outbreak in the US in the past 20 years”, the period in which the CDC has operated its electronic reporting system. In 2003, three people died and at least 124 were hospitalized after eating contaminated salsa at a Pennsylvania restaurant. In 2013, 69 people across 10 states were hospitalized after eating contaminated pomegranate seeds.

Yet in San Diego, 264 people have been hospitalized, roughly 70% of them homeless, in an outbreak that began last November, according to local health officials. Nine of the 14 deaths have occurred since mid-July.

The virus, which impairs liver function, causing jaundice, fatigue, joint pain and, in the most serious cases, death, is largely spread through food or water contaminated by fecal matter. Hepatitis A has a long incubation period – up to 28 days – which means people can spread the disease before they’re aware they’re infected.

A county spokesperson said epidemiologists have yet to determine the cause of the outbreak. Contaminated food is often the source of an outbreak, and Dr Rohit Loomba, director of hepatology at the University of California at San Diego, wondered if the source could have been food that groups distribute to homeless residents.

“My gut feeling is it was a common source where somebody might have given food to a group of homeless individuals,” he said. From there, the virus spread via personal contact. “They don’t have a clean water supply to wash their hands, and once they have hepatitis A, then they become a source for another person.”

Someone whose health is already compromised – by alcoholism, drug use or other illnesses – faces a higher risk of death from hepatitis A, Loomba said. He recommends that anyone who is homeless should get vaccinated.

Experts say that besides vaccination, thorough hand-washing is the best way to prevent the spread of the illness. But good hygiene is difficult for someone who is homeless, when public restrooms are scarce and few are open 24 hours. This is true of many cities with large homeless populations across the western US – there are only nine toilets for 1,800 people at night on Los Angeles’ Skid Row – and not least in downtown San Diego, where the only 24-hour restroom is many blocks from the largest encampments.

Char Beglou eats her breakfast after spending the night in the park. Photograph: Dan Tuffs/The Guardian

On a recent Friday morning, Eric Arundel and Mike, who declined to give his last name, sat under a shade structure on the edge of Fault Line Park, where homeless people spend time next to high-end condos and bars. A pair of restrooms in the park has remained locked for months, despite the city paying the park’s developer $1.6m to keep them open – and clean.

Mike, who was wearing a baseball cap, tilted his head up to show a reporter his eyes, the whites tinged yellow; he had been told by workers at a clinic to stay hydrated and call 911 if his body aches and fatigue got any worse, and was due to return Monday to hear the results of a blood draw.

The men listed off names of homeless people who frequented the park and had fallen ill. Some remain hospitalized. One woman’s parents took her home to northern California. No one is sure what happened to a man named Dave, who was taken to the hospital a couple months ago.

Debbie Smith, sitting in a chair near Mike and Arundel, said said she got vaccinated after seeing several people fall ill, and fought with two acquaintances to get treatment. “As soon as they woke up and their eyes were yellow, I told them, ‘You better get to the hospital.’”

After media reports about the locked restrooms, city officials intervened, telling the developer to keep the restrooms open from 6am-9pm. But several homeless people told the Guardian on Friday that the restrooms were sporadically locked. In an email Friday evening, a city spokesperson said a park official would ensure the restrooms remained opened during posted hours.

The speed of San Diego’s response has also come under scrutiny.

County spokesperson Tom Christiansen said local public health officials are working with the the CDC and California department of public health to try to bring the outbreak under control. Outreach workers are letting people know where to go for free vaccinations and educating people on how to avoid spreading hepatitis A.

And the county is in the process of securing a permit from the city to set up hand-washing stations downtown, a process that should be completed this week.

But homeless advocate Michael McConnell is incredulous that the hand-washing stations weren’t set up months ago, as soon as officials realized there was an outbreak.

“I’m no expert on proper responses to public health crises or viral outbreaks, but what I do see a pattern of is a lack of urgency when it involves homeless people, and this really seems to be no different,” he said.

“How hard is it to make sure there’s additional hand-washing stations?”

Three blocks east of Fault Line Park, where tents and makeshift shelters line the Interstate 5 onramp, a 26-year-old with curly hair and freckles named Sinead Law said that IV drug users were the ones falling ill.

While Law was talking, a woman pedaled up on a bike, asking for food. She said she’d just recovered from hepatitis A. “Dirty drugs,” she said, when asked how she got it.

A sturdy man named Crash, who said he weathered hepatitis A several weeks ago without needing medical help, thinks that it’s been the last two or three months that the virus has really taken hold.

“Now they can’t get rid of it,” he said.

Do you have an experience of homelessness to share with the Guardian? Get in touch

Output: San Diego has been hit by the deadliest outbreak of hepatitis A in decades, causing 14 known deaths so far in the area. Since the start of the outbreak last November, around 264 people have been hospitalised; around 70% of whom were homeless. Hepatitis A has a long incubation period of up to 28 days, hence people can spread the disease before they are aware they have been infected. The virus is primarily spread via food or water contaminated by faecal matter. The best prevention, besides vaccination, is thorough hand-washing, however, good hygiene is difficult for the homeless, particularly when public restrooms are rare and few are open 24 hours.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Facebook Audience Network faces criticism over Breitbart ads
 The volatile political environment has led many programmatic buying platforms to shun Breitbart, but the Facebook Audience Network is still placing ads on the controversial publisher’s website.

One ad buyer recently discovered that FAN, which uses Facebook data to sell ads on apps and websites outside the social network, placed its client’s ads on Breitbart. The buyer knew it was through FAN because the creative was unique to the ad that ran through the network. The buyer then saw a screenshot taken by the ad activist account Sleeping Giants of this specific ad on Breitbart. After this snafu, the buyer said it’s advising its clients to avoid FAN altogether.

Facebook may not want to appear as if it’s censoring political opinion. But the ad buyer said FAN’s policies give advertisers the impression that websites like Breitbart aren’t included in the network. An email that a Facebook rep sent to the ad buyer states: “We verify that every publisher follows our Audience Network policies. This includes adherence to the Facebook Community Standards.” And FAN’s policies state that sites in the network must not discriminate against “personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.”

Meanwhile, Breitbart headlines have claimed that women in tech “just suck at interviews,” female stars of the “Ghostbusters” reboot are “teenage boys with tits” and young Muslims in America are “a ticking time bomb.”

Other tech giants like Amazon and Google regularly serve ads on Breitbart, but those platforms provide more thorough reporting for ad buyers to check where their ads appear. The other qualm that this buyer had with FAN was that, without a list of the URLs where the campaign’s ads ran, the buyer couldn’t confirm its ads were on Breitbart until it started getting called out by activists.

While Facebook announced in June that it started testing out giving advertisers publisher placement lists, this ad-buying agency said those reports haven’t been made available to them yet. A Facebook spokesperson said the reports will be rolled out to advertisers within the next three weeks.

“[Facebook’s] black box ad net is touted as a way to use Facebook data to reach premium publishers off their platform, but they don’t release who those publishers are, and they refuse to give reports about where their ads run,” said the ad buyer said while requesting anonymity out of fear of getting on Facebook’s bad side. “Additionally, you have to trust Facebook’s categories without understanding at a URL level what domains might be included.”

A Facebook spokesperson said that advertisers on FAN can control what publishers their ads appear on because they have the option to block sites they don’t want to run on. The statement also read: “In addition, we will soon begin reviewing all publishers in the Audience Network on a placement by placement basis. If we find specific placements that are in violation of our policies, we will stop ads from running on those specific URLs.”

The video below shows a Breitbart banner ad being served by FAN. Above a headline that surrounds Trump adviser Gary Cohn’s name with globe emojis — the trope of calling Jews “globalists” or “cosmopolitan” dates back to Nazi Germany and “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” — is an ad for fintech company CNote. Clicking on the ad brings up a page explaining that FAN served the ad. Breitbart did not reply to messages about this story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wMUrOMvY-E

Kieley Taylor, head of paid social at GroupM, said FAN’s placement of ads on Breitbart “just reinforces that we’ve made the right call in avoiding buying open web inventory via FAN.” Compared to other buying platforms, FAN lacks transparency and attribution reporting, she said. FAN also lacks an impression tracker to show exactly where ads run, said a rep from ad agency CTP Boston.

David Lee, programmatic lead at ad agency The Richards Group, said that given all the hubbub over ads on YouTube appearing against extremist content, continuing to limit reporting while placing ads on a controversial site like Breitbart gives ad buyers the impression that Facebook “didn’t learn anything from the recent brand-safety issues.”

Output: Facebook Audience Network (FAN) has been heavily criticised for placing ads on Breitbart. An ad buyer spotted that FAN, which uses Facebook data to sell ads outside the social network, placed its ads on the controversial site; the buyer is now advising clients to avoid FAN. Facebook said that FAN advertisers can control where their ads appear by blocking sites they do not want them to run on, but the buyer contended that FAN was unclear about the fact that Breitbart was included in the package to begin with.


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228 high-rise buildings fail post-Grenfell fire tests
 Tests on the fire resistance of aluminium cladding systems in England currently suggest that at least 228 high-rise buildings, over 18 metres in height, are potential death traps.

The tests, carried out on behalf of the British government by the British Research Establishment (BRE), are the latest in a hastily arranged series following the catastrophic June 14 fire at Grenfell Tower in North Kensington, London, which killed at least 80 people.

The tests involved a large-scale test fire on an aluminium composite material (ACM) filled with retardant polyethylene installed with phenolic foam board insulation. Twenty-two buildings are known to use this specific type of cladding, adding to the 206 buildings clad with ACM using differing types of filler and insulation. So far, of systems installed, only those with fire retardant ACM and mineral wool insulation have passed the tests.

No complete list of the buildings involved has been publicly provided, but all are likely residential tower blocks, each housing hundreds of working people and run either by housing associations or local authorities. The government is reported as having informed the buildings’ owners and recommended remedial measures. If the experience of evacuated residents in London’s Chalcots Estate is a guide, emergency measures amounted to improving fire doors and installing fire stopping measures between flats and floors, and unblocking stairwell ventilation. An unknown number of low-rise and private sector buildings may use the same dangerous combinations of materials.

The current set of tests is the second conducted on ACM cladding. In the days following the disaster, Conservative Communities and Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid offered free testing of ACM samples to landlords. Initially as many as 530 buildings were thought to have ACM cladding, but early investigations reduced the number to 259, including 240 public sector residential blocks. Landlords were encouraged to submit two 250 x 250 mm ACM samples for testing by the BRE. Of samples eventually submitted, all failed. The test that generated the extraordinary 100 percent failure rate was authenticated as sound by the Sweden Research Institute.

In July, Javid told Parliament that thus far only the core of the ACM panel was being tested. In response, housing authorities and fire safety commentators demanded supposedly more representative test methods in which a mock-up of a full cladding installation, including the ACM panel, the insulation and fire stopping, should be used. Concerns were raised that potentially safe systems were in danger of being removed from buildings.

Hoping, no doubt, for a meaningful reduction in the number of dangerous buildings, Javid called for the new tests, of which six of seven have now been completed by the BRE. But only 13 of 241 buildings covered by the more realistic test have passed, arguably a more devastating outcome than the initial tests, and exposing a regulatory collapse of unprecedented proportions.

Every single one of the cladding systems now being exposed as deadly had previously been signed off as safe. How can this be?

Responsibility lies with all the major political parties, and successive governments, who over the last three decades have embraced deregulation and privatisation and the subordination of public health and safety to private profit. There are many aspects of this revealed by Grenfell.

In England now, following years of erosion, there is no unified regime of building inspection run by local authorities retaining any degree of independence from the building companies. Nor is there an arm of government tasked with overseeing building standards.

Rather, building contractors themselves can hire an “Approved Inspector,” whose job is not to ensure adherence to a strict set of “prescriptive” standards but to follow looser “functional” guidelines assumed to be needed for building safety. A host of private and semi-private organisations, such as the Building Control Alliance (BCA), have sprung up to exploit the regulatory vagueness and loopholes regarding the materials that can be used in any given set of circumstances.

The BCA advised on three mechanisms whereby a cladding system could be approved, in line with building regulations which stated that external insulation should be of “limited combustibility,” defined as “A2.” Option 1 stipulated that all the component materials could simply be of A2 combustibility resistance or better. Option 2 proposed a fire test be set up, that could include inferior products, but if the fire test was deemed safe all was well. Option 3, clearly the easiest, involved a “desktop” study where cladding materials could be deemed safe without any tests and without any specified combustibility standards merely on the basis of considering similar scenarios. No records of these studies were required to be kept.

Even more reckless were guidelines issued, now withdrawn, by the National House Building Council (NHBC), another private body, closely tied to the building industry, which issues insurance to house builders and offers building inspection advice. According to the BBC, the NHBC simply decided that sub-A2 materials were acceptable based on a review of a “significant quantity of data from a range of tests and desktop assessments.”

Perhaps most seriously, the BRE, the organisation most directly responsible for fire testing and providing fire safety advice, has itself been compromised. The BRE was established in 1921 as an arm of the civil service tasked with improving house quality. Over the years, the organisation established itself as a reputable, state-funded source of building and fire safety advice, with a degree of independence from the building materials and construction companies. Privatised in 1997, the BRE has subsequently sought to establish itself as a global brand for sale of fire safety advice, drawing in revenue from the very organisations whose products and operations it should be policing.

In 2016, the BRE issued a report, “External Fire Spread,” following studies commissioned by Javid’s Department of Communities and Local Government into the dangers of cladding fires.

The report, clearly intended to silence growing alarm, is cynical and complacent. The authors complained that high-rise flat fires are “visually impressive, high-profile and attract media attention.” To avoid the fuss, unsuitable cladding materials should be dealt with “as part of the fire safety risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 [12] ...”

This order, passed under the Labour government of Tony Blair, removed fire safety responsibly from the Fire Service and allowed anyone to set themselves up as a fire risk assessor, regardless of skills, experience or qualifications. In 2010, fire assessor Carl Stokes won the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chealsea fire assessment contract, including Grenfell Tower, by undercutting rivals Salvus Consulting. Stokes was praised at the time for his willingness to “challenge the Fire Brigade … if he considered their requirements to be excessive.”

Part one of the BRE report concludes with the assertion: “With the exception of one or two unfortunate but rare cases, there is currently no evidence from these investigations to suggest that the current recommendations, to limit vertical fire spread up the exterior of high-rise buildings, are failing in their purpose.”

Output: Almost 230 buildings clad in aluminium systems similar to those used in Grenfell Tower have failed large-scale fire tests, according to research carried out by the British Research Establishment. The private company has complained of the difficulty of dealing with high-rise building fires, saying in a 2016 report that they were "visually impressive, high-profile and attracted media attention". The tests followed the fire at Grenfell Tower in London on 14 June, in which 80 people died.


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Japan council buys insurance to cover wandering dementia patients
 YAMATO, Kanagawa -- The municipal government here has decided to enter an insurance plan that provides compensation in cases such as accidents stemming from elderly dementia patients wandering onto railway crossings, it has been learned.

The local authority plans to include the insurance plan idea in its supplementary budget proposal to be submitted to a municipal assembly session that convenes on Aug. 30, claiming that this is the first case in Japan of a municipal government entering this type of insurance plan using public funds. It is expected that the maximum compensation payout under the plan will be 300 million yen.

In a related case involving Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central), the railway firm sued the family of a 91-year-old man with dementia who was killed after being hit by a Tokaido Line train in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, in 2007 -- on the grounds that the collision caused train delays. JR Central demanded about 7.2 million yen from the family. The family lost the case in the district and high courts and was ordered to pay out, in what became an issue that gained attention across society.

However, in March 2016, the Supreme Court dismissed the liability of the victim's family. Nevertheless, the Yamato Municipal Government has found itself being consulted by concerned families of elderly dementia patients in the city asking, "If there is an accident, who holds responsibility, and to what extent?"

As a result, the municipal government decided to enter an insurance scheme using public funds that covers compensation for such accidents.

There are 32 railway crossings as well as eight train stations across the city belonging to three railway firms that operate lines such as the Odakyu Line and the Sagami Railway Line. The city will also enter an insurance scheme covering traffic accidents.

Elderly people with dementia who are at risk of wandering onto places such as railway tracks, and who have registered with the city's "wandering senior citizens SOS network" are expected to be covered under the plan. As of late July 2017, 237 people have registered with this network.

It is expected that the local authority will include about 3.2 million yen for this plan in its supplementary budget proposal, and will select an insurance company after a bidding process.

Output: The municipal government of Yamato in Japan has entered an insurance plan using public funds that provides compensation for accidents stemming from elderly dementia patients wandering onto railway crossings. The move follows a 2007 case involving Central Japan Railway that sued the family of a 91-year-old man with dementia who was killed after being hit by a train, on the grounds that the collision caused train delays. The family lost the case in the district and high courts and was ordered to pay out in a case that attracted national attention.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Stock trades timestamped with blockchain that uses atomic clock
 Current EU regulations for time stamping of stock trades require that all trading venues and market participants coordinate their clocks to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) and that transactions be stamped in milliseconds.

However, regulations set to come into effect as of Jan. 3, 2018 require timestamps to be more accurate, traceable and transparent for greater consumer protection.

This regulation has been met with some concern over what technology can implement the requirements.

However, the National Physical Laboratory, the Toronto Stock Exchange (TMX), and UK-based consultancy Z/Yen have come together to bring atomic clock timestamp precision to trades over a Blockchain database.

The database, called ‘Atomic Ledger’ timestamps trades within nanoseconds and is completely transparent. It also records time on the atomic clock, providing highly accurate time stamping.

The group tested the new technology on the Toronto exchange with great success. Having recorded and stamped 20 mln transactions, the results will be analyzed this week.

Professor Michael Mainelli, executive chairman, Z/Yen Group, says:

Output: A team of researchers from the National Physical Laboratory, the Toronto Stock Exchange and UK-based consultancy Z/Yen have developed an "atomic ledger" based on blockchain technology, which can timestamp stock trades to within nanoseconds. The move was prompted by European Union regulations that come into force in January, requiring accurate, traceable and transparent timestamps. The atomic ledger was tested successfully on the Toronto stock exchange, recording and stamping 20 million transactions.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

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Amazon grows advertising business with self-service platform
 Amazon is growing its ad business, most recently making two big moves that will bring it more revenue.

Agency execs say Amazon is opening up and evolving self-service for Amazon Media Group, its advertising arm that works similarly to programmatic advertising to serve ads to people off Amazon.com. “What they’re doing now is opening as a self-service platform to agencies, letting us manage those campaigns,” said one exec, where previously agencies had to go through Amazon’s own manager services.

The executive said Amazon first approached him about the tool in the third quarter of last year, saying it was in beta. The company told this executive in July that the tool was now open to more brands and agencies, and it was a work in progress with some branding changes coming to it.

Another agency executive said Amazon has made major advancements this year that make it easier to bid on the platform and report for both first-party and third-party users.

The second executive also said the company has made widely available an application programming interface for sponsored product ads, increasing the efficiency of bids on the platform, and that similar developments are expected for the AMS platform in the near future.

An Amazon spokeswoman said that advertising is still a newer part of the business, but the goal for the company is to constantly evolve and update tools available for advertisers — and the ultimate goal is to make all tools available in self-service.

Amazon’s public page describing its programmatic ad platform says the platform will dynamically deliver ads across Amazon.com and IMDb, as well as other owned and operated sites and apps, on publishers’ sites and through exchanges. The offering, called Amazon Advertising Platform, or AAP, is the company’s proprietary demand-side platform and can use everything from product images from Amazon.com to product review information that can be used for creative.

In June, Amazon also launched Advertiser Audiences, a self-serve platform that lets brands access audience matching, similar in a few ways to Facebook and Google. The tool allows brands to build audience segments based on data from Amazon.

The growth of self-serve is a clear move to give more levers and control to marketers and their agencies. Self-serve means more ads, and more ads means more revenue. It’s attractive to agencies because it lets agencies impose their own margins or markups. That inevitably reduces friction and also means more ad options and, therefore, more revenue. “I have heard from reps that this is a major part of their effort to boost advertising,” said one agency executive with knowledge of the matter.

The second change Amazon made that caused ripples in the seller community was opening up headline search ads to sellers as long as they are brand owners. Headline search ads are largely the most powerful Amazon advertising tool — second only to sponsored product ads. They appear above the search results when customers search for a particular item, similar to Google Search.

“This high-performing slot can be a huge difference for brands working to announce and launch new products or defend critical or strategic brand terms,” said one executive. (The third ad type available is product display ads, formerly known as e-commerce ads, which are only open to those who are vendors, that is, sell directly to Amazon)

Some sellers who spoke to Digiday under the condition of anonymity said they are getting $99 coupons and incentives to spend on Amazon Marketing Services, a common tactic for platforms as they grow ad options.

Kristin Rae, an entrepreneur and founder of Inspire Travel Luggage, who sells as a third-party seller on the platform, said she doesn’t remember getting credits, but does see headline search ads (part of AMS) advertised to her occasionally. “This lets me dominate keywords,” she said. “I know I spend the same amount within Amazon and get more targeted return than anywhere else.”

Until now, third-party sellers, who sell in Amazon’s marketplace, not to Amazon directly, had a number of hacks for accessing AMS. Those in the seller community had a low-performing product — essentially a sacrificial lamb — sold via Vendor Central, which would give them a door into AMS. (AMS options like product display ads are only available to vendors.)

“While [Amazon is] still years behind monetizing the platform as Google has, the new changes, such as opening up new ad slots, allowing for automated campaign reporting, complex keyword attribution and use have greatly increased efficiency of the channel and allowed strategic brands to steal share from those still struggling with the platform,” said one executive.

Amazon has a growing ad business, although its size is still up for debate. WPP chief Martin Sorrell, who has been one of the loudest voices in the industry on Amazon, estimated last week that the company made $2.5 billion from digital advertising in 2016, while eMarketer put Amazon’s 2016 ad revenue at $1 billion. Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak estimates that Amazon’s advertising business will reach $7 billion in revenue by 2020. Brands are also increasingly using Amazon’s ad platform, especially as the company ramps up its pitch to them.

Analysts in the industry believe rapid growth on the ad side is probably a priority for Amazon, since that can help ease its other growth issues, especially in its lucrative Amazon Web Services arm. And advertising has a profit margin of 20-30 percent versus the 5 percent that is common for retail, according to analyst Steven Mallas.

Output: Amazon is seeking to grow its advertising business with the introduction of self-service platforms for marketing clients. The new developments from Amazon Media Group, the company's advertising arm, will give agencies more control over campaigns, cutting out Amazon's own manager services. The company has launched a number of new services and platforms, including audience-matching and opening up headline search ads to brand owners. Amazon's advertising revenue was estimated at between $1bn and $2.5bn in 2016, with some predicting it will reach $7bn by 2020 as brands ramp up their use of the platform.


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Amazon's Alexa SDK delivers voice interaction to more devices
 Amazon is trying to help developers bring its Alexa voice interaction technology into more devices with a new offering called AVS Device SDK. It’s a software development kit including C++ code libraries meant to help developers easily connect their devices to the Alexa Voice Service, Amazon’s cloud-hosted voice interaction platform.

In a blog post announcing AVS Device SDK, Alexa Voice Service Senior Product Marketing Manager Satish Iyer said Amazon has already been working with over 50 companies in a beta program, including Technicolor and smart home startup Senic. Commenting on his company’s experience, Technicolor SVP Alan Mottram lauded the flexibility of AVS Device SDK, saying, “we’ve been able to quickly and easily integrate Alexa into our software platform.”

It’s the latest step in Amazon’s effort to extend the reach of its Alexa platform as voice-based interaction becomes increasingly important for consumer devices, with the company having launched the Alexa Skills Kit in 2015 and its Amazon Lex program earlier this year, after a trial program in 2016. Now, even as rival device makers are starting to integrate Alexa into their own offerings, Amazon appears intent on bringing its platform to even more products and services.

Source: Alexa Blogs

—

(Originally posted on Mobile ID World)

Output: Amazon is seeking to expand its Alexa voice interaction platform into more devices with the Alexa Voice Service (AVS) Device software development kit. The kit includes C++ code libraries to allow developers to connect their device to AVS quickly and easily. Amazon has already tested the software with more than 50 firms in a beta programme, including Technicolor and smart home start-up Senic.


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MedGenome offers cheap genomic diagnosis to Indians
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Bengaluru: MedGenome , a genomics research and diagnostics company, announced completion of $30 million in Series C financing led by Sequoia India and Sofina s.a., with participation by Zodius Capital; Kris Gopalakrishnan, co-founder and former CEO of Infosys; and Lakshmi Narayanan , former CEO of Cognizant.The Series C funding will accelerate development of the company’s affordable diagnostics tests and expand the market penetration by increasing customer awareness on the importance of genetic tests. Additionally, the funding will also be used to broaden biomarker discovery programs. Precision medicine is the ultimate goal of clinicians and patients alike which can be enabled through extensive biomarker discovery. We have established leadership in genetic diagnostics for inherited diseases in India. We will now expand DNA based testing to cover infectious diseases like tuberculosis,” said Sam Santhosh, Founder and Chairman of MedGenome, which also has Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) lab in South East Asia, and a CLIA-certified, CAP-accredited sequencing lab in Foster City, CA.The investor partners see this partnership as an exciting opportunity in the development of precision medicine . “We are excited to continue this partnership that will strengthen its proposition to consumers and doctors in these markets,” Abhay Pandey, Managing Director, Sequoia Capital India Advisors.“This will broaden the use of genomics-based diagnostics in the Indian healthcare sector, and tap into the value of Indian genetic data for research. We believe MedGenome's efforts will have a definitive impact on healthcare delivery in India and around the world,” said Xiao-Tian Loi, Investment Manager at Sofina.With over a million babies born each year with genetic disorders, India carries a huge genetic disorder burden.

Output: Medical diagnostic company MedGenome is using new investment financing to advance its affordable diagnostic tests in India. The company recently received $30m from a consortium led by Sequoia India, along with Sofina, Zodius Capital and others, and now plans to improve its DNA-based testing to cover infectious diseases. Investors believe the expansion of MedGenome's services will have a positive impact on healthcare delivery in India, where over a million babies are born each year with genetic disorders.


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Chinese authorities consider ICO ban
 In China, investors snapped up 2.6 billion yuan ($385 million) worth of new virtual currencies through initial coin offerings (ICOs) in the first six months this year, according to a recent government-backed study. Photo: Visual China

As Chinese regulators mull ways to curb risks associated with fundraising through new virtual currencies, an outright ban is an option on the table, several regulatory officials told Caixin.

Sources said regulators including the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) and China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) are pondering oversight measures on initial coin offerings (ICOs), an increasingly popular means to raise cash or other virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum by issuing a new cryptocurrency.

Over 100,000 Investors in China snapped up 2.6 billion yuan ($385 million) worth of new virtual currencies through ICOs during the first six months this year, according to a recent government-backed study. But as ICOs fall outside existing regulations, the risk of default and of fraud has grown, while raising concerns about a potential bubble.

Currently, any company can carry out an ICO if they publish a statement of intent and have an exchange to sell the new virtual currency on. Exchanges are usually happy to host a new coin as they earn service fees and may even get an allocation of the new currency before the ICO. In some regions in China, the issuer does not even need to have a registered company or computer program for the cryptocurrency, a bitcoin investor told Caixin.

Many ICO issuers are registered as charity foundations in Switzerland or provinces in China with preferential tax policies, the bitcoin investor told Caixin. In these cases, investors are considered donors.

In early July, central bank adviser Sheng Songcheng told China Business News that the biggest problem with ICOs was the lack of information disclosure, which can lead speculators to take advantage of investors.

At a meeting on August 18, officials from China’s central bank and the banking and securities regulators discussed controlling the size of ICOs, strengthening information disclosure, requiring risk warning documents and even a temporary ban, Tencent Finance reported.

But ICO issuers argue that the new virtual currencies do not give investors equity rights, nor do they promise any future profit. They simply give holders the right to use the product. Because these virtual currencies do not represent the same promises as a stock or bond, they should not be regulated via securities law, the issuers argue.

Other governments have started to regulate ICOs. In the U.S., ICOs fall under the supervision of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Earlier this week, Canada’s securities watchdog also said it plans to treat some cryptocurrencies offered through ICOs as securities. “ICO is a liquidity illusion. As long as a product can continuously trade, its value will increase from its previous level,” the bitcoin investor told Caixin.

Contact reporter Liu Xiao (liuxiao@caixin.com)

Output: Chinese regulators and officials from the country's central bank are considering ways to limit the risks associated with initial coin offerings (ICOs), from strengthening information disclosure to temporary and even permanent bans, according to reports. Chinese investors bought more than CNY2.6bn ($385m) of virtual currency during H1 2017, but a lack of regulation in the sector has sparked fears of potential default. Issuers argue digital currencies are not the same as stocks or bonds and should not be treated as such.


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Newcastle, Australia adopts smart city plan
 By Stuart Corner on

The NSW city of Newcastle has adopted a smart city strategy, describing it as a roadmap for creating a smarter and more innovative Newcastle and Hunter Region to maximise opportunities in technology, advanced manufacturing, the digital economy and the creative industries.

The Newcastle City Council Smart City Strategy 2017-2021 was formerly adopted by the City of Newcastle Council in August following a consultation process that included release of a draft strategy in May. It produced more than 70 submissions, the overwhelming majority of which were positive, according to the council.

The council says the strategy will leverage the smart city movement to improve liveability, sustainability and economic diversity, develop local innovation, build international profile and attract talent and inward investment to Newcastle. It will also “help ensure our future city has effective and integrated public transport, nurtures a creative and vibrant community and features best-practice energy and water efficiency.”

The council’s smart city coordinator Nathaniel Bavinton said the four-year strategy was one element of the broader Newcastle 2030 Community Strategic Plan that aims to create a smart, liveable and sustainable city.

“[The smart city plan] outlines the key priorities and actions to be delivered by council in its commitment to leading Newcastle’s transition to a smart and innovative city,” Bavinton said.

“Like the long-term strategy, the smart city strategy draws on input from – and the cooperation of – all levels of government, the community, educational and research providers and business and industry sectors.”

The strategy says its successful implementation will: improve operational efficiency; achieve higher levels of sustainability; better service local community needs; stimulate economic development activity; increase community inclusion and participation; and position Newcastle as a smart city internationally.

The strategy is structured around six major focus areas, depicted as what it calls the “Smart City Mandala.” The six focus areas are smart governance, smart environment, smart living, smart mobility, smart people and smart economy. For each of these, the strategy document lists specific initiatives and timeframes to achievement within the four-year timeframe of the overall strategy.

The strategy document says each focus area within the Mandala is underpinned by a number of supporting sub-strategies that have been “developed through internal and external stakeholder engagement and according to international best practice.”

The document says the plan is based on the framework of Boyd Cohen, the international urban strategist helping communities, cities and companies adopt smart, innovative and low carbon economies. He is the co-author of Climate Capitalism: Capitalism in the Age of Climate Change, published in 2011, and director of innovation and professor of entrepreneurship, sustainability and smart cities at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile.

Output: The Australian city of Newcastle has unveiled a four-year smart city strategy aimed at improving standards of living, environmental impact, and the region's economy. The project also intends to bolster the city's international profile, encourage local innovation and attract talent and inward investment. The strategy will focus on six areas of interest: economy, governance, people, living, mobility and environment.


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Westfield combats Amazon by upgrading digital ads
 Not all malls are floundering in the face of Amazon and e-commerce. Westfield is trying to adapt with plans to spend $1 billion on digital upgrades over the next five years.

“We want to upgrade our properties in ways that better speak to the way that consumers want to experience a mall environment,” said Charley Delana, Westfield’s head of brand ventures.

Westfield has replaced older ad formats such as ads on escalators with 450 eye-level digital media screens at 17 of its 33 malls across the U.S. meant to show shoppers relevant messages.

The screens will use cameras and sensors to track how many people pass by and collect real-time demographic data, such as the gender and age, within 20 feet. Westfield is also quantifying how consumers receive the screens’ ads by measuring consumers’ emotional responses and how long they spend in front of the screens. Using this and other web-based data such as weather reports, the screens can adjust the ad content to target individuals to make the ads more efficient.

“[Advertisers] can now see that we’re serving them the right audience, but they can also understand which creative is right at certain times of the day,” said Delana. “We’re only encumbered, if you will, by the amount of creative that they’re willing to provide us.”

For instance, if a group of men walk up to the screen and it’s a rainy day, the network can choose to show them one of five Burberry ads that promotes outerwear.

Brands can also choose to live stream from any of the screens and then stream that content to every Westfield property. Next month, Ford plans to roll out a new car at Westfield World Trade Center, Westfield’s newest location, this way.

At a time when people are glued to their smartphones, the screens aim to grab their attention while in the malls. However, in the future, Westfield plans on incorporating mobile into the strategy by serving ads to consumers’ phones when they are in proximity to the screens.

Westfield is also looking for retailers that are willing to innovate. At Westfield World Trade Center, for instance, it selected retailers that could provide mobile and in-store digital services.

A Credit Suisse study out in June predicted that 25 percent of malls will close in the next five years as Amazon and other e-commerce sites grab market share. Amazon was mentioned in at least 100 earnings calls in the past month. Westfield has 33 properties, down from 67 in 2005.

Westfield isn’t exactly shunning Amazon, though. Westfield has already placed Amazon bookstores in several of its properties and is considering incorporating Amazon Lockers, too.

“We embrace — embrace may be too strong of a word — but we certainly welcome a conversation with Amazon, and we have welcomed Amazon into our centers,” said Delana. “I don’t think we’re afraid of them so much as we’re looking to them as an opportunity to figure out how to partner.”

Image courtesy of Westfield

Output: Shopping centre operator Westfield is planning to spend $1bn on digital upgrades over the next five years, as it seeks to counter the threat from Amazon and other e-commerce providers. The company is replacing older ad formats with digital media screens at 17 of its 33 malls in the US. The screens will use cameras and sensors to track visitors and collect real-time demographic data to tailor appropriate advertising messages to consumers. Westfield also plans to incorporate mobile platforms into the digital strategy by delivering ads to consumers' phones near the screens.


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Healthcare IoT cybersecurity targeted by ZingBox and VMware
 ZingBox, a vendor of Internet of Things security systems, will collaborate with VMware, which markets an IoT infrastructure management system, to deliver enhanced security to enterprise Internet of Things implementations.

According to Gartner, by 2020, more than 25 percent of identified attacks in enterprises will involve the IoT. The Mirai attack last year was a wake-up call that demonstrated the real-world impact of attacks targeting IoT devices. And the recent WannaCry ransomware and NotPetya ransomworm incidents confirmed that the cybersecurity landscape is changing.

ZingBox and VMware said they clearly recognize this cybersecurity trend and seek to properly safeguard an IoT environment that requires adding security at every level of the architecture: software, hardware, network and user.

“Our collaboration will enable IT and OT leaders to increase overall vendor/solution credibility, particularly in manufacturing, retail and healthcare,” said Xu Zou, co-founder and CEO of ZingBox.

The process of provisioning, managing and securing IoT devices remains a significant challenge for many organizations, said Mimi Spier, vice president, IoT, at VMware. “We are excited to team up with ZingBox to greatly simplify the security and management of IoT infrastructure,” she added.

The two companies said they will strengthen IoT security by integrating ZingBox’s IoT personality-based approach with VMware Pulse IoT Center, an IoT infrastructure management system. ZingBox will introduce the element of trust between IoT devices and a vendor-neutral open source SDK by discerning each device’s unique personality and enforcing acceptable behavior based on rules created within VMware Pulse IoT Center, the vendors explained.

“ZingBox focuses on IoT security and the need to tighten it at all levels – software, hardware, network and user access,” said May Wang, co-founder and CTO at ZingBox. “Part of our mission is to educate the healthcare industry about the need for IoT operational analytics and its benefits. This partnership focuses on the benefits of our pre-integrated and pre-validated solution and how it reduces time to value for the end customer.”

This partnership announcement comes on the heels of ZingBox’s recent announcement of receiving $22 million in its B-series from Dell Venture Capital and Triventures.

Output: Internet of things (IoT) security provider ZingBox will partner with cloud computing company VMware to simplify the security and management of IoT infrastructure, said Mimi Spicer, VP of IoT at VMware. As part of the collaboration, ZingBox's IoT security software will integrate with VMware Pulse IoT Center, an IoT infrastructure management system. ZingBox will establish trust between IoT devices and open-source code by analysing the security of individual devices and enforcing acceptable behaviour based on fixed rules, the vendors explained.


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Airtel's online debit card attracts two million users in India
 The Airtel Payments Bank-Mastercard powered online debit and prepaid card has clocked a milestone, crossing two million users in India within five months of its launch.

This digital payments solution enables Airtel Payments Bank customers to make secure and convenient digital payments at over 100,000 e-commerce websites and other online portals.

The online card can be accessed by all Airtel Payments Bank customers via the My Airtel app in the bank section.

Commenting on the development, Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments Bank said, “We are delighted with the customer response to our online debit and prepaid cards that further validates the growing acceptance of our digital payments platform in India".

Porush Singh, Country Corporate Officer, India and Division President, South Asia, Mastercard said, “It is heartening to see that cards issued by Airtel Payments Bank have clocked such an impressive growth".

This achievement comes close on the heels of the recently launched Digital Evolution Index, an exclusive report that was recently commissioned by Mastercard and the Fletcher School at Tufts University. It places India among the Break-Out economies, pointing to the country’s potential to emerge as a full-fledged digital economy.

Srivats.kr@thehindu.co.in

Output: India's Airtel Payments Bank's online debit and prepaid card, backed by Mastercard, has notched up an impressive two million users within five months of launch, according to Airtel CEO Shashi Arora. The digital payments solution enables the bank's customers to make payments at more than 100,000 e-commerce websites and other online portals, while the online card can be accessed via the My Airtel app.


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Cricket insurance costs surge as rain stops play in India
 Mumbai: The cost of insuring cricket matches , which accounts for a bulk of the Rs 200-crore sports insurance market in India, has gone up substantially in the last three-four years. Stakes in the country’s most popular game have risen and insurance companies are discovering that a little bit of rain can result in having to pay out large claims.A corporate sponsor of the Indian team has seen its insurance premium bill jump from Rs 1.5 crore in FY17 to Rs 4 crore in FY18 following a large claim in the previous year. Sponsors are only one of the stakeholders in a cricket match — the others being the association broadcasters and franchisee owners “Hardening cricket insurance rates are predominantly driven by loss ratios as most of the policies are bleeding,” said Amit Agarwal of JLT Insurance Brokers at JLT Independent , an insurance broking firm. “For the same match, there are multiple stakeholders who buy insurance cover. Often claims from multiple insurance policies hit the same insurer or reinsurers simultaneously. Given the multiple stake, a bad spell of rain could cause large losses to the insurer,” said Agarwal.The growth of league matches for a television audience with sponsors has increased the money involved in other sports such as football ( Indian Super League ) and Pro Kabaddi League . Badminton is another sport which is picking up. However, cricket continues to account for 85-90% of the total sports premium in the country.The sports insurance market, less than two decades old, had got a big boost with the launch of the Indian Premier League 10 years ago. The business, which started as a largely reinsurance-driven one, is now led by the country’s largest domestic insurer New India Assurance followed by Oriental Insurance National Insurance and HDFC Ergo .In early days of cricket insurance, non-life companies were cautious, charging high rates and providing limited cover. Companies issued policies like the one-ball bowled cover, where the insurance policy would cease to operate if even a single ball was bowled. In subsequent years, as domestic companies learned the game, more companies participated in sports insurance, which brought prices down.The entry of IPL resulted in the game becoming big business and different stakeholders buying cover to protect their interests. “When the insurance company stands to lose Rs 6 lakh per over, there is less room to be flexible about rates.”Interestingly, headline-grabbing events in cricket have not resulted in claims. For instance, the scrapping of the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals did not result in claims to the insured as the actions of the franchise owners were judged to be illegal. Rather, it is inclement weather that results in losses

Output: Inclement weather during cricket matches in India has seen the cost of insuring against cancellation rise from INR1.5 crore ($1.6m) in 2017 to INR4 crore in 2018. The success of the Indian Premier League means policies are often taken out by multiple organisations, from broadcasters to franchise owners, with subsequent claims spelling huge losses to insurers. "When the insurance company stands to lose INR6 lakh ($9,400) per over, there is less room to be flexible about rates", said Amit Agarwal of JLT Insurance Brokers.


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Redrow Promotions for two Redrow managers in Lancashire division
 Two of Redrow’s construction team have taken on new roles within the company’s expanding Lancashire division.

Stuart Bullough and Shaun Phoenix, both awarding-winning members of the Redrow team, have been promoted to construction manager and area construction manager respectively.

For Stuart Bullough, 44, from Poulton-le-Fylde, it was the second upward move this year, after officially becoming area construction manager in January (although it was a role he has been doing informally already).

The dad-of-three, who started with Redrow as an assistant site manager in 2003, said he never envisaged getting so far in such a short time: “Of course I am delighted, ecstatic even. But I don’t ever want to stand back and think I’ve done well, or get complacent.”

Stuart will continue to oversee eight sites within Redrow’s Chorley-based Lancashire division, gradually increasing to cover its 20-plus developments, as well spending more time in the office and getting involved in board reports, etc.

“I will also deputise for the construction director, and act increasingly as a link between the sites, the area managers and the construction director,” he added.

It’s a major move for Stuart, who has won a wealth of industry awards including two NHBC ‘Pride in the Job’ Seals of Excellence when he was site manager at Harbour Village in Fleetwood and Whitehill Meadows in Blackpool.

Shaun Phoenix, 39, from Leigh, is now area construction manager for Redrow, taking charge of a number of sites in the Merseyside area, including Summerhill Park’s apartments and houses in Liverpool’s Broadgreen area; Regency Gardens and Regency Manor in West Derby and the refurbishment of three listed buildings on the old Holly Lodge school site; plus Redbridge Park in Fazakerley and a forthcoming new site in Maghull.

It is the latest move for the father-of-two, who started his career with the homebuilder when he left school at 16 as an apprentice joiner.

The dad-of-two has progressed steadily up the ranks to site manager, project manager and senior project manager before being appointed to his latest role.

He said: “It’s my role to act as the glue between a host of different departments, dealing with the site managers, area sales team and on-site sales staff, as well as helping to resolve technical issues. I’m basically a link between the office and the site.”

Keith Collard, construction director for Redrow Homes (Lancashire), said both promotions were well deserved and fitted with Redrow’s commitment to home-grow talent.

“Redrow enjoys nurturing the talent it has and supporting its people, whether that’s apprentices, graduates, other trainees or people at various stages of their career looking to expand their qualifications and experience,” Keith explained.

“It’s one of the reasons Redrow was the first housebuilder to receive the British Institute for Learning and Development (BiLD) ‘Quality Mark’ in 2016, recognising the calibre of our approach to training and professional development programmes; and it’s also helped us become a Top 100 Apprenticeship Employer for the last four years.”

Output: Stuart Bullough and Shaun Phoenix have been promoted to more senior roles in Redrow's Lancashire division. Former area construction manager Bullough is now construction manager and will eventually oversee more than 20 of the division's developments. Meanwhile, Phoenix has been promoted to area construction manager, in charge of sites in the Merseyside area, having previously worked as a senior project manager at the housebuilder.


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Chinese internet crackdown forces users to use their real name
 China is cracking down on censorship once again, but this time things are a touch more serious. According to new rules published by China’s main internet censor last Friday, netizens who want to post comments online will now have to register with their real names. They can still use pseudonyms, but those names are tied to their real identities. These new rules come ahead of the communist party’s 19th National Congress, which convenes this autumn and is usually a time when the regime tightens the ship.

Half of this is nothing new; the Chinese regime has always ordered people to register with their real names and has made attempts to enforce this on various levels over the past three years. This time, however, the difference is that internet companies and service providers are being made responsible for ensuring users stay fully identified. Companies and service providers are also required to report any illegal content they see on any platform to the government.

Despite China’s many attempts to control the internet, users have always found ways to skirt the rules and hide in a degree of anonymity in Weibo (a Chinese microblogging site similar to Twitter) chats and other platforms. And the use of VPNs to bypass China’s firewall has been prevalent there and in other totalitarian countries like Iran and Russia. But even the VPNs are beginning to fall under the relentless pressure of Chinese censorship. As of early August, Apple removed several VPN apps from the iTunes store in China, citing local law.

Output: New rules published by China's internet censor state that users will have to register their real names if they wish to post comments online. The onus will be on the internet companies and providers to ensure users are properly identifiable; pseudonyms can still be used, but must be linked to real identities. With VPNs even dropping in numbers due to the strict Chinese regime, it seems China is committed to removing privacy from its internet.


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Food site Tastemade partners with Smorgasburg in LA and NYC
 Tastemade, born as a social food video media company, is moving deeper into real-life events through a partnership with outdoor foodie market Smorgasburg.

Tastemade will sell sponsorships to events at Smorgasburg locations in New York and Los Angeles, such as concerts, food festivals and other events. Tastemade will also sell sponsorships of services at Smorgasburg, where advertisers can sponsor everything from the Wi-Fi to the free filtered water that Smorgasburg offers visitors.

Tastemade is already talking to a number of advertisers on Smorgasburg-related deals, said Tastemade co-founder Larry Fitzgibbon. The companies will share revenue from any deals sold.

The Smorgasburg deal gives the 5-year-old Tastemade a chance to do live events on a regular basis — a bigger focus area for the company as it looks for ways to diversify its revenue sources beyond digital advertising and platforms that pay it to make shows about food. Smorgasburg, which The New York Times once called the “Woodstock of Eating,” draws between 1 million and 1.5 million attendees per year, an audience that Tastemade and its advertisers can tap into, Fitzgibbon said.

“When we are talking to brands, they are always interested in this type of product,” Fitzgibbon said. “But we don’t want to just do things that pop up and go away; we want some more consistency so we can build programs that run across a longer time frame. It’s also easier to integrate into something that’s already happening than to start something fresh.”

Tastemade is best known for overhead cooking videos and other food-related video series on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. The company’s head of programming recently said it now gets more than 2 billion video views per month across platforms. With custom, sponsored events, Tastemade can get in front of more people in a real-world setting. Plus, the move gives Tastemade a slight hedge against the unpredictable nature of ad revenue on social platforms.

Fitzgibbon said Tastemade has already done more than 100 live events, including some with advertising clients such as Airbnb and Nike. When Airbnb arrived in L.A., Tastemade turned its Santa Monica-based studio into a mini food market with 30 vendors from around the city. More recently, Tastemade held a dinner on behalf of Nike, which brought together Nike execs, athletes and social influencers. More than half of the events Tastemade has done have been paid for by brands, the company said.

The partnership also includes creating more videos that feature Smorgasburg and its food vendors, chefs and attendees. Tastemade and Smorgasburg are working on videos that will spotlight businesses, chefs and food trends that come out of Smorgasburg — vendors have been known to start their food businesses by selling at Smorgasburg before opening restaurants, and the ramen burger came out of this community.

A social clip Tastemade produced about Smorgasburg’s first L.A. market has been viewed more than 2 million times across Facebook and Instagram, indicating that there’s interest in this type of content.

“We exist almost entirely in real life — we have an online presence and great social followers, but in the digital and content world, it’s not been at the core of what we do,” said Eric Demby, co-founder of Smorgasburg. “But we’ve seen the social media food porn craze. And with Tastemade’s huge audience and capacity to create great content, it’s something we can capitalize on.”

Output: California-based recipe site Tastemade is partnering with Smorgasburg, which runs outdoor food markets in the US, to add live events to its activities. Tastemade, which claims to get two billion video views a month from its food-related video content on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, will sell sponsorship relating to events at Smorgasburg markets in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. The two companies are already working on videos spotlighting businesses, chefs and food trends that come out of Smorgasburg. Tastemade has previously been involved in live events featuring brands such as Airbnb and Nike.


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Canadian authorities to treat ICO offerings as securities
 In studying a number of cryptocurrencies and upcoming ICOs, Canadian authorities have said that the offerings are similar to the sale of securities and as such should have to abide by the tough rules that exist around them - or seek exemptions.

Legal grey area

While digital currencies boom and ICOs pop up with huge regularity across the globe, governments and regulators are trying to incorporate them into an existing legal framework.

Regulators are trying to keep up with the growth in order to create rules to govern them within their borders, while also not stifling the innovative funding model.

The Canadian Securities Administers, an umbrella group of provincial watch-dogs, has noted that any token whose value is tied to future profits or success of a business should be considered a security.

This obviously seems to encapsulate ICOs whose value is indeed set and determined by future profiteering and success.

The regulators said in a statement:

“With the offerings that we have reviewed to date, we have in many instances found that the coins/tokens in question constitute securities for the purposes of securities laws, including because they are investment contracts.”

Ire of the fintech community

The statement released by the regulators has been labeled as unclear and a little ambiguous, although full of threat and menace.

It has prompted some of Canada’s leading fintech executive to criticize and seek clarity from the Canadian Securities Administrators.

“There still is a lot of gray area in terms of the guidance on when a cryptocurrency or token would be a security,” said Daniel Fuke, a partner in the securities and M&A group at Fasken Martineau.

“It would be nice if we could know from CSA what they were thinking in terms of some of the sub-considerations of the securities law test.”

Pressure from the South

South of the border, in the US, their securities authority already made a big call when it announced that Blockchain companies must obey federal laws because of the DOA incident.

In essence, ICOs would be controlled by these securities laws unless a valid exemption could apply.

Output: Canadian regulators are looking to treat cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings as securities. Any token whose value is tied to future profiteering or success of a company should be considered a security, and as such should have to abide by the same strict rules as securities or seek exemptions, according to the Canadian Securities Administrators.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
3DR deal to provide businesses with UBI drone policies
 We recently reported on Verifly's smartphone app allowing recreational drone users to insure their unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the fly, by paying for insurance by the hour. Now it seems that drone company 3DR is partnering with Global Aerospace and Harpenau Insurance in order to provide the same service for corporate use. This partnership, announced in a blog post by 3DR, is meant to alleviate concerns for companies primarily using drones in the construction and engineering fields, and any damage or injury that may occur during business hours.

According to TechRepublic, this comprehensive insurance intended to cover legal liability and/or damage will be provided to 3DR Site Scan customers, will be underwritten by Global Aerospace, and given to policy holders by Harpenau Insurance. Evan Garmon, a commercial agent at the latter company, claims that engineering and construction are the initial focus of this insurance partnership, and will be worked on first. How will this work, on the customer's end?

Apparently, customers will have the ease and convenience of a simple website or app at their disposal, if choosing to use this service. According to TechRepublic, they'll be able to access a self-service portal and choose between several different insurance options, and get a fairly accurate quote within hours before committing to one. This seems like a natural extension of the aforementioned Verifly service, just a little more bureaucratic and, well, serious. Since this is aimed at large corporations with far more legalese to wade through, and potential millions of dollars on the line, the process will naturally be slightly less breezy. That isn't to say that this won't be hugely convenient for companies seeking drone insurance, just that us recreational users have a more relaxing go at it.

3DR's post explains that users of their service will be able to include coverage of "personal injury (invasion of privacy), non-owned liability (crashing someone else’s drone or a rented drone), medical expenses, premises liability, and damage sustained from any malicious acts," as well as getting "coverage for the drone itself, which covers the cost to repair equipment or to cover the total loss of the platform, payload, or ground equipment." This seems like an all-encompassing offer that will most likely appeal to a vast section of companies using UAVs in some form or another to help their business. Customers will even benefit from some more exclusive features that Global Aerospace can provide, such as 'Visual Line of Sight Standard Operating Procedure' which was specifically developed for the company by Unmanned Safety Institute.

Output: Drone company 3DR is partnering with Global Aerospace and Harpenau Insurance to offer a comprehensive insurance policy aimed at businesses using drones, according to a blog post on the 3DR website. Aimed initially at the construction and engineering industries, the online portal offers several insurance options, which include personal injury, non-owned liability, medical expenses, premises liability, damage sustained from any malicious acts, and coverage for the drone itself. Users will receive a quote within hours of making their selection. Gartner estimates the drone market will be worth $11.2bn within the next three years.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Cannabis-linked road deaths surge in Colorado after legalisation
 The number of drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado who tested positive for marijuana has more than doubled since 2013, federal and state data show.

A Denver Post analysis of the data and coroner reports provides the most comprehensive look yet into whether roads in the state have become more dangerous since the drug’s legalization.

Increasingly potent levels of marijuana were found in positive-testing drivers who died in crashes in Front Range counties, according to coroner data since 2013 compiled by The Denver Post. Nearly a dozen in 2016 had levels five times the amount allowed by law, and one was at 22 times the limit. Levels were not as elevated in earlier years.

Last year, all of the drivers who survived and tested positive for marijuana use had the drug at levels that indicated use within a few hours of being tested, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation, which compiles information for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.

The trends coincide with the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado that began with adult use in late 2012, followed by sales in 2014.

However, Colorado transportation and public safety officials say the rising number of pot-related traffic fatalities cannot be definitively linked to legalized marijuana.

Positive test results reflected in the NHTSA data do not indicate whether a driver was high at the time of the crash since traces of marijuana use from weeks earlier also can appear as a positive result.

But police, victims’ families and safety advocates say the numbers of drivers testing positive for marijuana use are rising too quickly to ignore and highlight the potential dangers of mixing pot with driving.

“We went from zero to 100, and we’ve been chasing it ever since,” Greenwood Village Police Chief John Jackson said of the state’s implementation of legalized marijuana. “Nobody understands it and people are dying. That’s a huge public safety problem.”

The 2013-16 period saw a 40 percent increase in the number of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in Colorado, from 627 to 880, according to the NHTSA data. Those who tested positive for alcohol in fatal crashes from 2013 to 2015 – figures for 2016 were not available – grew 17 percent, from 129 to 151.

By contrast, the number of drivers who tested positive for marijuana use jumped 145 percent – from 47 in 2013 to 115 in 2016. During that time, the prevalence of testing drivers for marijuana use did not change appreciably, federal fatal-crash data show.

State law does not require coroners to test deceased drivers specifically for marijuana use in fatal wrecks.

Among The Post’s other findings:

Marijuana is figuring into more fatal crashes overall. In 2013, drivers tested positive for the drug in about 10 percent of all fatal crashes. By 2016, it was 20 percent.

More drivers are testing positive for marijuana and nothing else. Of the drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2014 who tested positive for cannabinoids, more than 52 percent had no alcohol in their system. By 2016, it had grown to 69 percent.

In 2016, of the 115 drivers in fatal wrecks who tested positive for marijuana use, 71 were found with the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana in their blood, indicating use within hours, according to state data. Of those, 63 percent were over the state’s limit for driving.

“We are discouraged by the rising numbers. We had awareness campaigns four months after legalization and thought we were getting out ahead of it,” said Sam Cole, spokesman for the traffic safety division of the Colorado Department of Transportation, where the FARS data for the state is collected.

Pointing to a number of different studies, the industry counters that the data is imprecise and does not definitively link fatal crashes to marijuana use.

Taylor West, former deputy director of the National Cannabis Industry Association, said unlike alcohol, marijuana can remain detectable in the blood stream for days or weeks.

“So all those numbers really tell us is that, since legal adult-use sales began, a larger number of people are consuming cannabis and then, at some point (are) driving a car,” West said.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Output: The number of drivers involved in fatal collisions in Colorado who tested positive for marijuana has risen 145% between 2013 and 2016, according to federal and state data. Colorado legalised the drug in late 2012. The data does not indicate whether a driver was high at the time of the crash, however, as traces of marijuana can remain in the blood for weeks, therefore it is impossible to state definitively that the drug's legalisation is behind the rising death count.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Australian renewables can power 70% of homes
 Australia’s renewable energy sector is within striking distance of matching national household power consumption, cranking out enough electricity to run 70% of homes last financial year, new figures show.

The first Australian Renewable Energy Index, produced by Green Energy Markets, finds the sector will generate enough power to run 90% of homes once wind and solar projects under construction in 2016-17 are completed.

The index, funded by GetUp through supporter donations, underlines the advance of renewables, despite Australia’s electricity markets still leaning heavily on carbon-emitting coal and gas-fired generation.

Renewables, which made up just 7% of national electricity output a decade ago, accounted for 17.2% last financial year. This jumped to 18.8% last month.

This is saving the power sector from carbon pollution equivalent to taking more than half of all cars in Australia off the road, according to Green Energy Markets.

The biggest single source of renewable power remained hydro-electricity (40%), followed by wind (31%) and rooftop solar (18%), the index found.

Less than 2% came from large solar farms, suggesting the best is yet to come from this arm of the renewables industry which has an array of large-scale projects underway.

Green Energy Markets analyst Tristan Edis said the emergence of renewables, in particular wind and solar, as a “significant source of power” had ushered in a “construction jobs and investment boom”.

“The renewable energy sector has staged a remarkable recovery, after investment completely dried-up under former prime minister Tony Abbott,” Edis said.

He said investors had “recovered their confidence under Malcolm Turnbull”, with help also from “a range of state government initiatives”.

Edis said the renewables sector was on track to meet the federal government’s renewable energy target of 20% of total generation by 2020 over a year early, by the end of 2018.

However, the renewable jobs boom underpinned by the RET could “soon turn to bust”, he said.

Renewable investment beyond the RET risked collapsing without the Turnbull government moving forward on chief scientist Alan Finkel’s recommendation for a future “clean energy target”, he said.

At least 46 large-scale energy projects under construction by the end of June were providing enough work to employ 8,868 people full-time for a year. This figure had surged to 10,000 by July. Most jobs were in NSW (3,018), thanks largely to wind farms, while Queensland (2,625) was next, with 70% of its jobs coming from solar farms.

Rooftop solar installations supported a further 3,769 full-time jobs across Australia in 2016-17.

With most projects underway in Queensland, large solar farms still generated less than 2% of renewable energy in 2016-17, the index found.

Generation from rooftop solar, which was “back in 2008 little more than a rounding error”, had “grown spectacularly”, Edis said.

More than 150,000 systems installed in the last year alone would produce enough energy for 226,000 homes, he said.

“Meanwhile these solar systems will also save consumers $1.5 billion off their electricity bills over the next 10 years.”

Miriam Lyons, GetUp’s energy campaigns director, said that “everyday Australians are voting with their rooftops” in a move that “heralds the end of the era of big polluting energy companies dominating the market and manipulating prices to fill their own pockets”.

“Who do we have to thank for the renewables boom? Certainly not the federal government,” she said.

“Instead we can thank the thousands of everyday Australians who stood up and defended the national [RET] from Tony Abbott’s attacks, who saved [the Australian Renewable Energy Agency] from federal government budget cuts, and who pushed their state governments into showing some leadership on clean energy.”

The Australian Renewable Energy Index will be published monthly.

Output: Australia generated enough energy from renewable sources to provide electricity to about 70% of the nation’s households between July 2016 and July 2017, according to a report by the Australian Renewable Energy Index, produced by Green Energy Markets. The figure could rise to 90% once large scale wind and solar projects currently under construction are completed.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Australian renewables can power 70% of homes
 Inspiring Figures

Between July 2016 and July 2017, Australia generated enough energy from renewable sources to provide electricity to 7.1 million homes, roughly 70 percent of the country's total households, according to a newly released report produced by Green Energy Markets.

The Australian Renewable Energy Index is a country-wide report that analyzes the impact of renewables on the nation's overall electricity and energy landscape. August marked the first time the report was released, but the plan is to publish one every month moving forward.

This month's report provides a clear indication of how far Australia has come in its efforts to bolster renewable and clean energy, as well as how much further it could go.

“The renewable energy sector has staged a remarkable recovery, after investment completely dried-up under former prime minister Tony Abbott,” Tristan Edis, an analyst from Green Energy Markets, told The Guardian. He added that the report confirms how renewables could become a “significant source of power” for the country and help the economy by producing “construction jobs and investment boom."

A Working Alternative

Despite still leaning heavily on coal- and gas-fired power plants for electricity, Australia has stepped up its renewable energy game. The report notes that renewables made up some 17.2 percent of electricity used countrywide during the July 2016 to July 2017 period. That's a huge leap up from the 7 percent output a decade ago. Hydro-electricity accounted for 40 percent of this renewable power, while wind was the second largest source at 31 percent.

Considering the continent is often bathed in sunlight, the fact that about 20 percent of Australia's renewable energy comes from solar power is likely unsurprising. According to the report, roughly 150,000 small-scale solar systems were installed on rooftops this year. They produced enough energy to supply electricity to more than 226,000 homes, and their installation supported some 3,769 full-time jobs.

Speaking of jobs, the country currently has 46 large-scale renewable energy projects under construction, supplying full-time jobs that could employ 8,868 people for a year. When those renewable energy projects are finished, Australia is expected to be able to produce enough energy to power 90 percent of the nation's homes.

Of course, the impact these renewables have on the environment is perhaps even more than notable than their benefit to the economy. During the said financial period, Australia's renewable energy systems slashed a total of 24.5 million tonnes (27 million tons) of carbon dioxide emissions — that's equivalent to removing 8.1 million cars from the roads.

Based on the finding of this report, Australia is on pace to meet its renewable energy target — 20 percent of total generation by 2020 — by the end of 2018, making the nation a sterling example for others to follow.

Output: Australia generated enough energy from renewable sources to provide electricity to about 70% of the nation’s households between July 2016 and July 2017, according to a report by the Australian Renewable Energy Index, produced by Green Energy Markets. The figure could rise to 90% once large scale wind and solar projects currently under construction are completed.


Instruction: create a high quality summary of the given input

Input:
Regus Regus adds 1 million sq ft of freehold space via Basepoint acquisition
 Well, we didn’t see this one coming, especially as it was less than a month ago that International Workplace Group (Regus) reported a 4% profit dip in pre-tax profits in the first half of the year.

PropertyWeek reported earlier today that Regus bought none other than Basepoint Business Centres, one if its largest UK serviced workspace rivals.

IGW’s recent profit dip was blamed on the company’s increased spending to expand its network, and it appears that they intend to keep on ‘shopping’. Regus’ recent acquisition of Basepoint cost them a staggering £100m; but it’s also given them an additional 1 million square feet in serviced office space, which will amount to access to over 340 centers in the UK alone.

Amid WeWork’s mind-blowing growth, Regus is getting more and more aggressive with its growth strategy as well, not shying away from large investments as long as they provide significant growth in the short and medium term. In fact, IGW is hoping the Basepoint deal will “bolster its balance sheet as all the Basepoint centres are freehold and fits with its (IGW’s) long-term strategy to increase the proportion of freehold assets in its portfolio relative to leasehold.” We think this is a much needed element to add significant value to Regus and it’s long overdue in our view.

Industry consolidation is something industry leaders and experts have been expecting and predicting for over a year now, especially from large players like Regus. Indeed, Regus was among the first operators to step up to the plate, acquiring Avanta, Causeway House, BusinessSuites, Spaces, and others.

The question is, how far will Regus go to remain a dominant player in the flexible workspace market? Profit dips and WeWork’s exponential growth haven’t stopped the company one bit. Yet, the competition is only bound to get stronger as property groups and real estate companies enter the industry, which will make competition more aggressive and it will make it harder for operators to cut good deals with landlords.

Even so, we’re not too worried about the serviced office giant, as they’ve proved time and again through their long-standing industry presence (even when many have been blind to their value) that they know what they’re doing.

Output: Shrugging off a 4% dip in pre-tax profits for H1 2017, Regus has acquired UK-based rival Basepoint Business Centres in a deal worth £100m ($130m). The latest in a string of acquisitions, Basepoint’s 1 million sq ft of serviced office space dovetails with IWG’s long-term strategy to increase its proportion of freehold assets.