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Showing posts from October, 2020

Twitter clears the N.Y. Post to tweet again after policy change

Twitter will no longer restrict the New York Post’s account on its platform after changing its practice of not retroactively overturning past enforcement actions. The New York Post was locked out of its Twitter account earlier this month following the publication of a story on Oct. 14 that contained allegations about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden. The company had also initially blocked users from sharing the link to the article but reversed its decision two weeks ago. “Decisions made under policies that are subsequently changed & published can now be appealed if the account at issue is a driver of that change,” Twitter said on Friday. “We believe this is fair and appropriate.” Our policies are living documents. We're willing to update and adjust them when we encounter new scenarios or receive important feedback from the public. One such example is the recent change to our Hacked Materials Policy and its impact on accounts like the New York Post. — Twitt

Canada Revenue Agency Seeks Leave to Appeal Federal Court of Appeal Decision

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Trump’s China Scorecard Shows Many Defeats, and One Big Change

(Bloomberg) -- President Donald Trump ran for office pledging to rewrite the U.S. economic relationship with China, which he blamed for hollowing out America's manufacturing base and impoverishing its workers. His four years in the White House have shown limited impact on the metrics he laid out. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/3oGroDG

HEXO Corp Reports Financial Results for the Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2020

OTTAWA, Oct. 29, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- HEXO Corp. (TSX: HEXO ; NYSE: HEXO) (“HEXO” or the "Company") today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended July 31, 2020. All amounts are expressed in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/35Ov1ib

It may sound far-fetched, but businesses need to be ready for an election-related disaster

How can leaders prepare for the presidential election resulting in a disaster? That possibility may sound unrealistic to many leaders. Yet it doesn’t sound so far-fetched to many top politicians and experts observing the run-up to the election. With many more mail-in ballots—which are much more vulnerable to legal challenges —than in previous elections, the counting might drag on for many weeks. It may well be accompanied by widespread civil disturbances , serious economic turmoil , and potentially a constitutional crisis .   Is a voice deep inside your gut whispering, “An election disaster has never happened before, and so it won’t happen now”? Maybe it’s the same voice you heard when reading articles at the beginning of this year about the need to prepare for COVID-19 turning into a pandemic? That’s why the vast majority of companies weren’t prepared for the pandemic. Our brains have a disastrous tendency to underestimate greatly low-probability and high-impact disruptors,

Spotify draws fire over Alex Jones’s claims in Joe Rogan podcast

Spotify is drawing heat for a podcast from Joe Rogan in which the popular host discusses conspiracy theories with right-wing rabble-rouser Alex Jones. The service declined to remove the episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience” after listeners complained that Jones exaggerated the risks of giving children the polio vaccine and that masks don’t help stop the spread of coronavirus, among other things. Spotify has taken down content from Jones before for violating its policies about “hate content.” Spotify doesn’t ban specific guests, chief legal officer Horacio Gutierrez said in an email to some Spotify employees. The company also weighs the context of commentary made on Spotify shows, according to a person with knowledge of the communication, who asked not to be identified discussing an internal matter. “Not all of you will agree with every piece of content on our platform,” Gutierrez wrote. BuzzFeed News first reported on the email. Even before coming onto Spotify last month, Rogan’s p

Coronavirus vaccines, World Trade Organisation and the global divide

As access to vaccines becomes a global public requirement, how such vaccines can be effectively traded across borders to reach people needs to be discussed. The problem will assume huge proportions if the flexibilities in the current WTO IP rules do not allow producers, particularly from developing countries, to bypass IP restrictions from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/2Jcsd78

Political cynicism has given way to love in Christian America

Cynicism has been trending in America. In 2016 Donald Trump appealed to a jaded electorate by suggesting that his propensity to donate to both parties was not a sign of lacking principles but instead an appeal to the lowest common denominator. Everyone could be bought, Trump suggested, even though the businessman himself was still trying to work his way back to the fortune he’d inherited from his father’s vast array of low-rent housing. Unless he shuffled his money around, and maybe got some government funds, Trump couldn’t afford to buy anyone. For years wealthy Americans had seen Trump as the gilded duck paddling along on a sea of faux-reality prestige. Scratch his gold-plated toilets and find cheap plastic. Look beneath the surface and you’d see him sweating and paddling to outrun tax bills and bankruptcies and vast foreign debt. Like most of us, Trump’s presentation of himself differed from the man he was in actuality. Instead of Instagram filters he used tax lawyers and shady R

The biofuel alternative to farm fires

There appears to be a definite anomaly in OMCs’ offtake price for bio-CNG (for which crop residue can be a feedstock) as compared to that offered for 1G bioethanol or biodiesel. This matter requires serious consideration by the MoP&NG and the earliest revision of bio-CNG offtake rates as well as issuing ‘bankable’ offtake agreement for 15 years, to facilitate low-cost project financing. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3mo1NgX

Those ‘accept cookies’ banners on websites undermine your privacy—but they can be fixed

Between working remotely, spending more time at home this year, and businesses across many industries shifting entirely to digital , we’re online more now than ever. This means we’re also seeing more “accept cookies” banners—a bug on the Internet’s windshield and an eyesore we hurriedly click “yes” to so we can see what we actually came to a site to check out.  At best, the banners are a nuisance, and at worst they undermine their original purpose: to protect user privacy. As the CEO of a company that deploys what I hope is the least intrusive form of these dreaded banners, I can say there has to be a better solution, and one that is more focused on the end user’s best interest.  This was not always the norm. Amid the flurry of new privacy laws over the past few years like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), companies resorted to accept cookies banners as a means of compliance. But are they actually working? A recent study shows they may actually undermine EU privacy law

Land O’ Lakes CEO calls for big federal spending on rural broadband

Land O’ Lakes CEO Beth Ford called for $100 billion in government spending to expand high-speed Internet access to rural and underserved areas, and close the ‘digital divide’ that is costing residents there jobs, education, and progress. Speaking at the Fortune Global Forum, Ford was echoed by HP CEO Enrique Lores, who said the coronavirus pandemic has driven home the importance of the issue. “I think that in the last six months we’ve learned about the many gaps we have in our country, whether it’s the digital divide or systemic racism.” The numbers are certainly striking. According to the Federal Communications Commission, only 65% of rural residents have access to fixed-line high-speed Internet, compared to 97% of those in urban areas. Because of that gap, the coronavirus pandemic has been particularly hard on rural families with school-age children, Ford said. “Teachers are having to drive out to farms with paper homework so that kids can have an education,” said Ford. “It’s

‘Success of everyone’: Chobani and PayPal are paying workers more—and rethinking capitalism

Companies that want to become truly successful have to fundamentally rethink the amount of money they are willing to spend on employees, especially the low-wage workers who have become “essential” during the pandemic, two prominent CEOs said on Monday. “Success of the brand in business doesn’t translate automatically to success of everyone,” Chobani founder and CEO Hamdi Ulukaya said on Monday at the Fortune Global Forum. “Chobani will never be complete and our success will never be complete unless I see that everyone who participated in this journey has their fair share,” added Ulukaya, who spoke hours after announcing that Chobani would raise its starting hourly wage to at least $15 an hour, or more than double the federal minimum wage. About 70% of the food company’s employees are paid hourly. The federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 since 2009, the longest span in the nation’s history that the rate has not risen. And about 44% of U.S. workers between the ages of 18 and

Magnetic North Acquisition Corp. Announces Closing of $1.65 Million Non-Brokered Private Placement

CALGARY, Alberta and TORONTO, Oct. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Magnetic North Acquisition Corp. (TSXV: MNC) (“ Magnetic North ” or the “ Company ”) is pleased to announce the closing of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of Series A Preferred Shares (the “ Financing ”). The Company issued 165,697 Series A Preferred Shares at a price of $10.00 per Series A Preferred Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $‎1,656,970. The Financing is intended to allow Magnetic North to make investments in certain of the Company’s investee companies and for working capital purposes. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/3dZL1l9

Turning Point Brewery Workers Unionize with SEIU Local 2 Brewery workers vote 93% in favour of unionization in a response to low wages and lack of transparency from management.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Turning Point Brewing Company workers are leading the way in a resurgence of brewery union organizing activity in British Columbia. The workers are joining the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 2. This represents one of the most significant brewery unionizations in the province in decades. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/3dX1lmW

IGNITE International Brands, Ltd. Enters Manufacturing Agreement With CannaPiece Corp. to Meet Overwhelming Demand for IGNITE Cannabis Products in Canada

VAUGHAN, Ontario, Oct. 26, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IGNITE International Brands, Ltd. (CSE:BILZ, OTCQX: BILZF) (“ IGNITE ” or the “ Company ”), a global consumer packaged goods brand, is pleased to announce that it has broadened its manufacturing capabilities by signing a contract manufacturing agreement with CannaPiece Corp. (“ CannaPiece ”), a leading contract manufacturer of cannabis and hemp. CannaPiece operates a 50,000 square foot state-of-the-art licensed manufacturing and processing facility, with ability to expand its operations to 150,000 square feet. The operation includes R&D, Product Development, Third-Party Processing, Packaging, Large-Scale Extraction, Production of Edibles, Topicals and Concentrates with the ability to provide IGNITE Branded products to domestic markets. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2Tt0cdu

Trump vs Biden: Betting Markets Give Round 2 to Donald says Cloudbet

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IntelGenx Announces Second Tranche Closing of Private Placement

SAINT LAURENT, Quebec, Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IntelGenx Technologies Corp. (TSX-V:IGX) (OTCQB:IGXT) (the “ Company ” or “ IntelGenx ”) is pleased to announce that it has closed a private placement (the “ Offering ”) to certain investors in the United States of U.S.$532,000 principal amount of 8% convertible notes due October 15, 2024 (the “ Notes ”). The Notes will bear interest at a rate of 8% per annum, payable quarterly, and will be convertible into shares of common stock of the Company (the “ Shares ”) beginning 6 months after their issuance at a price of U.S.$0.18 per Share. The Offering represents a second tranche of the Notes. As previously announced, the Company closed an offering of an additional $1.2 million of Notes on October 15, 2020. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2HsQ4Pm

What happens if the U.S. election is contested?

President Donald Trump has claimed without evidence that unprecedented numbers of mail-in ballots will lead to widespread fraud by Democrats in the November presidential election. The president has also repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if the vote count indicates he has lost to Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/31AXEyn

Coastal power plants scale up coal imports, as freight, other imposts jack up local fuel prices

Coastal power plants in the southern and western India, being away from the Coal India (CIL) pit heads, are finding imported coal, especially shipments from Indonesia, far cheaper than domestic coal as high rail freight and assorted levies inflate the prices of the local variety. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/31ARTR0

Why Building an Electric Car Is So Expensive, For Now

(Bloomberg) -- At Tesla Inc.'s ballyhooed Battery Day event in September, CEO Elon Musk set himself an ambitious target: to produce a $25,000 electric car in three years. Hitting that sticker price -- about $13,000 cheaper than the least expensive model today -- is seen as critical to deliver a true, mass-market product. Getting there means finding new savings on technology, most critically the batteries that can make up a third of a vehicle's cost. Musk says innovations and in-house manufacturing can quickly halve that expense, while most competitors see a slower road to reach price parity with gas guzzlers. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/37xmmmN

Tight control on cost has helped report our strongest operating profit: Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO of Federal Bank

Federal Bank's net profit for the September quarter declined 26 % year on year (YoY) to `307.6 crore, impacted by a significant step up in provisions. Shyam Srinivasan, MD & CEO of Federal Bank, talks to Rajesh Ravi about the bank’s performance and outlook. from The Financial Express https://ift.tt/3od8RyE

Apollo seeks to tame investor concerns over CEO’s ties to Epstein

Apollo Global Management Inc said on Wednesday it would launch an independent review of Chief Executive Leon Black's ties with late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as some of the private equity firm's investors issued statements for the first time expressing concerns. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/31usqZA

Used car consignment store CarLotz nears deal to go public -sources

NEW YORK -- CarLotz Inc, a U.S. consignment store for used vehicles, is nearing a deal to go public through a merger with blank-check acquisition company Acamar Partners Acquisition Corp at a valuation of close to $830 million, including debt, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/3od8xQs

Paul Singer’s Elliott Management to open offices in Florida and Connecticut

Elliott Management Corp, one the world's busiest activist investors, plans to open two new offices - one in Florida and one in Connecticut - to give staff more flexibility when the threat of COVID-19 ebbs and employees return to the office, a source said on Wednesday. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/3ogk8OE

Argentina seeks to spur construction investment with tax and fiscal benefits

BUENOS AIRES -- Argentina´s economy ministry said on Wednesday it had sent the country´s Congress a bill to spur construction activity through tax and fiscal incentives, an effort to create jobs and boost investment in an economy ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2FPl37x

Behind real estate’s surprise 2020 boom and what comes next

Subscribe to How To Reopen , our weekly newsletter on what it takes to reboot business in the midst of a pandemic. The house-hunting bonanza that gripped many Americans along with the resilience of the real estate market has been one of the biggest surprises of 2020.  The COVID-19 pandemic , the loss of millions of jobs, a weaker economy—none of it stopped millions of house hunters from flocking to Zillow, Redfin, and other online platforms to browse, plan their move, and, in many cases, purchase their first home. Home prices have been climbing steadily over the past few months, and industry players are projecting they are likely to peak in some markets this fall, causing a tempering of the market driven by a decline in supply and a prolonged economic recovery. Real estate companies are preparing for what comes next and what homebuying will look like in this new environment, as it will become more important to optimize their sales funnels, home in on high-value leads, and boost

Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. Announces Upsize of Previously Announced Private Placement and Change of Auditor

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canadian Spirit Resources Inc. ("CSRI" or the "Corporation") (TSXV:SPI) (OTCBB:CSPUF) is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated October 9, 2020, it has increased the size of its previously announced non-brokered private placement offering of units of the Corporation (" Units ") to up to $1,600,000 (the " Offering "). The Offering will be comprised of up to 32,000,000 Units at a price of $0.05 per Unit. The Offering is still anticipated to close by the end of October 2020. Read More from Financial Post https://ift.tt/2FRBHn2