Uncertainty of Health Claims Usage for Foods and Supplementary Foods in Turkey – Lexology

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The health claims for foods and food supplements were regulated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MoAF) within the framework of the Turkish Food Codex and accordingly, the health claims to be used in the advertisement, promotion, and label of foods and supplementary foods were permitted by MoAF. In this context, manufacturers and importers must use health claims for the label, promotion, and advertisement of their products in line with the regulations of MoAF.

According to the Turkish Food Codex legislation, it was determined that the food and supplementary food cannot claim to prevent, treat, or cure a disease, and not refer to such features. For instance, a food supplement using the health claim feel comfortable in situations of stress, distress, anxiety, and insomnia with a natural content of the product can be evaluated as unpermitted health claim usage even though the claims are scientifically proven as it directly claims treatment of certain health problems. The Turkish authorities do not want the consumers to use food supplements as substitutes for pharmaceuticals.

The health claims for certain products are specified by the MoAF. For example, the health claim for food supplements containing probiotics is This food contains probiotic microorganisms. Probiotic microorganisms help to regulate the digestive system and support the immune system. Other health claims for the food supplements involving probiotics would violate the regulations. ToAF may apply administrative sanctions for the violating usage of the health claims.

However, a legislative amendment changed the system in the use of health claims and made the procedure vague for almost 2 years. The authority to supervise and allow the health claim usage in the advertisement, promotion, and label of foods and food supplements is passed into the hands of the Turkish Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (TTCK) within the Ministry of Health (MoH) by the Law amending certain laws on health published in the Official Gazette dated 05.12.2018. As explained above, the regulations to supervise and allow the health claims on the food supplements were regulated by MoAF and MoAF was implementing these regulations before the authorization of MoH. After the amendment, the MoH decided not to apply the ready-made regulations created by the MoAF and to create a new regulation on the health claims of foods and food supplements to give permission, however, the MoH has not established its regulation yet from December 2018 and it leads uncertainty in the sector.

Supplementary food manufacturers and importers who want to use health claims on the labels of their products must first obtain a health claim permission from MoH and then obtain permission for its label to release the product from MoAF. This latest complex structure to release a food supplement with a health claim on its label concerns the manufacturers and importers as they cannot obtain permission from the MoAF for new health claims even though the regulations of MoAF are still effective, nor can they obtain permission from MoH since MoH does not apply the regulations of MoAF and still have not created its regulation of health claims. This turns into a serious publicity problem for manufacturers and importers and causes them to be deprived of the right to use a health claim that complies with the current and effective regulations.

At this point, the manufacturers and importers are continuing to use the formerly obtained health claim permissions for their old products, but they cannot get a health claim permission for their new products. Also, there is a risk that they may face administrative sanctions from both MoAF and MoH if they violate the effective regulations created by MoAF as both administrative bodies are authorized on this matter.

It is still uncertain when MoH will prepare the regulation and start to permit health claims to food supplement manufacturers and importers.

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Uncertainty of Health Claims Usage for Foods and Supplementary Foods in Turkey - Lexology

North American Vegetable Oil Market Insights and Forecast to 2025 – ResearchAndMarkets.com – Business Wire

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DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "North America Vegetable Oil Market - Growth, Trends and Forecast (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The North American Vegetable Oil Market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 4.01% during the forecast period 2020-2025.

In North America, the market is driven by robust demand for organic health-based products, with increased consumption among health-conscious consumers of high-quality edible oils/cooking oils and the growing demand from various application areas.

The food industry held a major market share with the growing popularity of vegan diets. In addition, a number of oils are used as food supplements (or "nutraceuticals"), for their nutrient content or purported medicinal effect.

Key Market Trends

Growing Consumption of Olive Oil

In North America, the consumption of olive oil has almost doubled over the last 25 years. The growing demand for oil has been driven mainly due to its associated health benefits. The antioxidant effects of olive oil give the product a wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical industry. Olive oil is being used in the treatment of many chronic diseases. Furthermore, Italy, United States and Spain are the leading olive oil-importing countries, comprising 45.8% share of the global import. Whereas, Spain, Italy, and Tunisia are the prominent olive oil exporting companies accounting for 62.9% share in the global export.

United States Holds the Largest Market Share

According to the USDA report, the United States is the leading producer of soybean oil after China. During 2018-2019, the country produced 10,975 thousand metric ton of soybean oil, from which 881 thousand metric ton was exported to other regions. Moreover, domestic consumption was led by the strong demand for soybean oil for fuel applications, thereby, accounting 10,659 thousand metric ton, in terms of consumption value. Thus, this restricted the export value of the product. Furthermore, in United States, the consumption of palm oil is low. However, manufacturers are investing in increasing the application in the country, owing to its lower price and wide application in the food and personal care segments.

Competitive Landscape

The major players of the market have a broad geographical presence and an extensive product portfolio to cater to numerous consumer demands. This factor assists the company to maintain a strong foothold in the market. Some of the major players are Cargill, Incorporated, Fuji Oil Holding Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, AGYDSA, Olam International Limited, Wilmar International Limited among others.

Key Topics Covered

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Deliverables

1.2 Study Assumptions

1.3 Scope of the Study

2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

4 MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1 Market Drivers

4.2 Market Restraints

4.3 Porter's Five Forces Analysis

5 MARKET SEGMENTATION

5.1 By Type

5.1.1 Palm Oil

5.1.2 Soybean Oil

5.1.3 Rapeseed Oil

5.1.4 Sunflower Oil

5.1.5 Olive Oil

5.1.6 Other Types

5.2 By Application

5.2.1 Food

5.2.2 Feed

5.2.3 Industrial

5.3 By Geography

5.3.1 United States

5.3.2 Canada

5.3.3 Mexico

5.3.4 Rest of North America

6 COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

6.1 Most Active Companies

6.2 Most Adopted Strategies

6.3 Market Share Analysis

6.4 Company Profiles

6.4.1 Cargill, Incorporated

6.4.2 Fuji Oil Holding Inc.

6.4.3 Archer Daniels Midland Company

6.4.4 AGYDSA

6.4.5 Ragasa - Derechos Reservados

6.4.6 Bunge Limited

6.4.7 Olam International Limited

6.4.8 Wilmar International Limited

7 MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND FUTURE TRENDS

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/6y93e7

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North American Vegetable Oil Market Insights and Forecast to 2025 - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Business Wire

At the University of North Texas, the Mob Comes Calling for a Music Theorist – National Review

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(Jonathan Drake/Reuters)You might think music theory is an academic area thats safe from the illiberal mob, but a University of North Texas professor has learned otherwise.

Chances are you have never heard of the music theorist Heinrich Schenker or the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, a publication at the University of North Texas (UNT) devoted to all facets of Schenkerian thought, including theory, analysis, pedagogy, and historical aspects. But that journal, and, in particular, the UNT music-theory professor Timothy Jackson, who oversees it, are now at the center of a controversy that goes to the heart of whether we are truly a free society. Can people speak their minds, or will those who express dissenting opinions be destroyed by a mob they can neither challenge nor resist?

In the most recent issue of the Journal of Schenkerian Studies, Jackson published a critique of a plenary address given by the music theorist Philip Ewell to the Society for Music Theory. Ewell posited a white racial frame in music theory that is structural and institutionalized. In particular, Ewell accused Schenker (18681935) of being racist, therefore suggesting that his work in music theory is tainted.

For Jackson to have questioned Ewells thesis and defended Schenker against the charge of racism was seen as nothing short of heresy. UNT graduate students and faculty, as well as music professors across the country, are now demanding that Jackson be investigated, his journal shut down, and his position eliminated. A group of graduate students in UNTs Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology issued a statement calling on the university to hold accountable every person responsible for the direction of the publication of the journal. This should also extend to investigating past bigoted behaviors by faculty, they wrote, and, by taking this into account, the discipline and potential removal of faculty who used the [Journal of Schenkerian Studies] platform to promote racism. Specifically, the actions of Dr. Jackson both past and present are particularly racist and unacceptable. A group of UNT faculty piled on, circulating a petition endors[ing] the call for action by the graduate students.

In other words, these students and faculty are not only calling for Jacksons head for expressing his views in his journal article, they want the university to launch a witch hunt to see what else they can dig up on him. And today, the dean of the UNT College of Music, John Richmond, announced that UNT is opening that investigation in the name of reaffirm[ing] our dedication to combatting [sic] racism on campus and across all academic disciplines.

Any professor in Jacksons position that of stating a view that goes against prevailing campus opinion should be terrified. College administrators are not exactly profiles in courage when it comes to standing up to the mob, typically preferring to roll over in the hopes that they wont be next. (Spoiler alert: They will be next.)

It is particularly ominous that Jacksons critique of a fellow scholar falls wholly within the scope of academic freedom that UNT promises to its faculty. Jackson is not a professor going viral after mouthing off on Twitter, although those professors need protection too. He offered a serious critique of that scholars work, based on archival research within his highly specialized field, and after lifelong study of Schenker specifically and music theory more generally. He now has a legitimate fear that he may lose his job and be rendered persona non grata at any other institution. Questioning the current campus orthodoxy even in the context of serious academic inquiry is now considered a capital offense by the growing number of people who, as Daniel Schwammenthal put it earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal, seem to understand George Orwells 1984 not as a warning but as a manual.

It is difficult to overstate what an existential crisis this represents for a free society. I worry that people will be fatigued by yet another cancel-culture story, or that this may appear as simply an internal squabble among scholars in an obscure field. But if we do not stand up to this mob behavior each and every time, it will quickly swamp civil society. Simply put, the behavior of those who want Timothy Jacksons life ruined over his academic critique of an article applying critical-race theory to music theory is not compatible with freedom. And if we do not see our own freedom as threatened by this situation and the countless others like it, that freedom will perish swiftly and silently.

Nevertheless, I think this battle can be won. When a similar controversy erupted at Princeton over an article in Quillette by Professor Joshua Katz, the mob clamored for Katzs head. Katz had dissented from a Faculty Letter signed by many of his colleagues demanding that Princeton take illiberal measures to address perceived systemic racism on campus and beyond. Princetons initial reaction was predictable: The university publicly denounced Katz and announced it was investigating him. But Katz and his allies refused to cower. Support for Katz poured in from high places, including the editorial board of the Wall Street Journal. Eventually, realizing that it would actually be held accountable for its promises of free speech and academic freedom, Princeton relented. While maintaining his disagreement with Katzs article, president Christopher Eisgruber announced that the article was protected by Princetons commitment to the freedom of speech and that Katz could be answered but not censored or sanctioned.

I do not believe the victory at Princeton would have happened without a large group of people, Katz included, who were willing to stand up loudly and publicly and say enough. While UNT may not be as prominent as Princeton, nor the Journal of Schenkerian Studies as well-known as Quillette or the Wall Street Journal, we need to stand up loudly and publicly now, too. Enough. An attack on one persons freedom is an attack on everyones freedom, and the only possible way to defeat the rising tide of repression on campus and beyond is to fight with everything we have, each and every time.

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At the University of North Texas, the Mob Comes Calling for a Music Theorist - National Review

Federal government materially interfering with lawful dissent in Portland – Washington Times

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ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Two weeks ago, this column offered a brief history of the freedom of speech in America. The essence of the column was that all public speech is lawful when there is time for more speech to challenge it and that the remedy for hate speech is not censorship, but more speech.

Last week, this column addressed the unconstitutional behavior of federal agents in Portland, Oregon, most of whom are out among peaceful demonstrators interfering with free speech, travel and assembly.

Also last week, a newspaper in New Jersey, the editors of which might have disagreed with the essence of this column that the First Amendment requires the government to protect political dissent and prohibits interfering with it published my column with the two-and-a-half most important paragraphs removed.

Was I disappointed that a column that was represented as mine had such a substantial portion missing that the printed version failed to make its point? Yes. Anyone would be. Newspapers should not be in the business of censorship.

Neither should the government.

The federal forces in Portland are doing far more than protecting a federal courthouse. They are listening to peoples phone calls and capturing their text messages and emails without warrants. They are materially interfering with lawful dissent.

It is one thing to build a wall or a fence around a courthouse and man it with armed guards. It is quite another to wade into a crowd of peaceful demonstrators with tear gas of such intensity and ferocity its active ingredient is 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile that it is prohibited in wartime by treaties to which the United States is a signatory.

Here is an eyewitness account of events in Portland last Friday night from Marissa Lang, a Washington Post reporter:

The tear gas started early Friday night, interrupting a line of drums and dancing, chanting protesters, an artist painting in oils underneath a tree in the park and a man with a microphone speaking about the issues of racial justice and policing at the center of these nightly demonstrations.

Hey guys, dont panic, dont panic, the man said from the steps of the Multnomah County Justice Center, one block over from the federal courthouse in downtown Portland. All you first-timers out here, its just tear gas. Everybody just relax.

As if on cue, a brigade of orange-shirted men with leaf blowers descended on the cloud, revved their engines and blew the tear gas away. The crowd cheered.

Thank you leaf-blower dads! shouted a young woman.

This chemical can burn skin, permanently damage eyes and lungs, and even cause death. It is unleashed every night, repeatedly and for hours. Why would any government in a democracy that claims to derive its powers from the consent of the governed unleash this deadly agent on anyone?

Here is the backstory.

The federal government which originally claimed that COVID-19 was a hoax is losing the public relations battle over the pandemic. It was too late to the game to claim leadership. Now, after nearly 150,000 deaths, a politically induced recession which the same feds who are suppressing speech foolishly think they can cure by borrowing and spending $4 trillion in four months and a myriad of confusing, conflicting and unlawful state regulations of personal behavior, the feds want to change the subject.

Will federal forces in Portland change the subject?

Yes, for a while, particularly when the government breaks its own laws. Try as the government has, it simply cannot find any lawful basis for the presence of its forces on Portlands streets. They have assaulted without provocation and arrested without warrants or probable cause. Thats called kidnapping.

Are they military? They look and act and are armed as if they are, but the feds claim the Department of Homeland Security, not the Department of Defense, employs these forces. Does that make a legal difference?

The U.S. Constitution and federal law prohibit the introduction of the military into domestic law enforcement unless requested by the state legislature or the governor. Both the Portland mayor and the Oregon governor have asked the feds to go home.

The Constitution also guarantees the concept of federalism. When the U.S. Supreme Court last looked at that issue in 1997, the late Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that the federal government cannot interfere with the discretion of state officials to spend state tax dollars and deploy state assets as they wish; nor can it commandeer state functions.

If putting hundreds of military-garbed armed forces onto public streets against the wishes of local and state officials and attempting to take them over from local police does not violate the constitutional guarantee of federalism, it is hard to know what does.

This business in the Portland streets is about dissent. Dissent is integral to our humanity and culture. This country was born in dissent. It often irritates, and those in power loath it. But without it, wed have little freedom and no protection from the tyranny of the majority.

John Stuart Mill argued that if all the world but one person were of the same opinion, the world would have no more right to silence the one than he if he had the power would have to silence the world.

I may disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it. When Voltaire was reputed to have written those words, dissenting speech was punishable by death. In America, the Supreme Court has ruled, the government must give dissent breathing room. In Portlands streets, the feds are trying to make it impossible for any but their own to breathe.

Only a government hateful or fearful of the people it claims to serve uses force to silence them.

Andrew P. Napolitano, a former judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, is a regular contributor to The Washington Times. He is the author of nine books on the U.S. Constitution.

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Federal government materially interfering with lawful dissent in Portland - Washington Times

WATCH: Tshwane healer bags award at National Science and Technology Forum – IOL

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By Sakhile Ndlazi 16h ago

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Pretoria - The award is bigger than me, its coupled with a calling I received from the ancestors to do good by my community.

This was the humble and selfless acceptance phrase by Dr Ephrahim Mabena after he bagged the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Award at the National Science and Technology Forum on Thursday night (NSTF-South32 Awards)

Previously the awards were made at a glittering gala dinner. However, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 awards took place online.

Mabena was always a firm favourite and was disguised by being the only traditional doctors among professors.

He said the award was reassuring for the community of Mamelodi and frowned upon traditional healers who contributed a lot in the well being of people.

Its bigger than me, its bigger than us. Its Godly and we have to carry on doing what we were intended to do. We all have a role, however small of big, you would be surprised at the ripple effects your role has, he said.

Mabena is the founder of Mothong African Heritage Trust and he is being acknowledged for his stellar contribution in this regard.

For me, it is important to know that what you do makes a difference, I would like to thank the organisation for the recognition of my contribution, he said.

It is situated above Section H and is part of the Magaliesberg biosphere, which has been recognised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation.

This once smelly dump where murderers dumped bodies is now the pride of Mamelodi.

I am overwhelmed by the acknowledgement. I still cant believe it. To think when I started I found a dead body right here and now it has turned into a place of learning for indigenous knowledge systems, said Mabena, a traditional doctor and former operative of the ANCs armed wing, uMkhonto we Sizwe.

All the other winners:

Lifetime Award

Prof Michele Ramsay Professor: Human Genetics; Director: Sidney Brenner Institute of Molecular Bioscience; and Chair: Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) / National Research Foundation (NRF) South African Research Chair Initiative (SARChI): Bioinformatics and Genomics of African Populations, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) For her pioneering genomic medicine approaches in Africa and leading the transcontinental study on factors that contribute to African diseases.

TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Researcher

Prof Christine Lochner Co-Director: South African Medical Research Council Unit on Risk and Resilience in Mental Disorders, Department (Dept) of Psychiatry, Stellenbosch University (SU)

For her research into neuropsychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive and related disorders, which fosters a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating a biopsychosocial focus.

TW Kambule-NSTF Award: Emerging Researcher

Prize sponsor: proSET (Professionals in SET), a sector of the NSTF representing professional bodies and learned societies

Dr Vhahangwele Masindi Research Scientist: Magalies Water; and Principal Researcher: Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); and Research Fellow: University of South Africa; and Part-time Lecturer: University of Venda For his specialization in the valorization and beneficiation of wastewater through drinking water reclamation and minerals synthesis.

Prof Richard Walls Associate Professor: Fire Engineering Research Unit, SU For conducting research and education to improve informal settlement fire safety as well as structural fire design both crucial to ensuring safety in our communities.

Management Award

Professor Judith Kinnaird Associate Professor and Director: Economic Geology Research Unit; and Co-Director: DSI Centre of Excellence for the Study of Mineral and Energy Deposits, School of Geosciences, Wits For directing economic geology research studies on metals for everyday needs now and for the future.

Engineering Research Capacity Development Awards

Sponsor: Eskom since 2003

Prof Josua P Meyer Professor and Head: Dept of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering; and Chair: School of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology, University of Pretoria For developing large numbers of engineering research graduates of the highest quality.

Dr Abimbola Olukemi Windapo Associate Professor: Dept of Construction Economics and Management, University of Cape Town For her research of construction business and management that confronts the problems of poor project and organisation performance from a practice perspective.

NSTF-Lewis Foundation Green Economy Award

Sponsor: The Lewis Foundation since 2019

Sharksafe (Pty) Ltd CEO and Co-Inventor: Prof Conrad Matthee, Dept of Botany and Zoology, SU For developing the SharkSafe BarrierTM that is the first shark specific barrier which is eco-friendly and can protect swimmers and surfers without harming the marine life.

NSTF-Water Research Commission (WRC) Award

Sponsor: WRC since 2017

Prof Faizal Bux Director and Professor: Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology; and Chair: DSI/NRF SARChI: Wastewater Treatment, Durban University of Technology For researching wastewater as a resource and not a burden to society.

Data for Research Award

South African Population Research Infrastructure

Network (SAPRIN) Co-Directors: Prof Mark Collinson and Dr Kobus Herbst, Wits Rural Campus, Mpumalanga For collectively conceiving, developing and implementing SAPRIN, which produces up-to-date information on health and socio- economic wellbeing, representative of South Africa's (SA) population, for scientific analysis, embedding research projects and policy evaluation.

Innovation Award: Corporate Organisation

The Smart Spectrum Sharing Team Team Leader and Chief Research Scientist: Dr Fisseha Mekuria, CSIR For developing the Smart Spectrum Sharing Technology (S3T) for a Smarter ICT Infrastructure and Digital Inclusion.

Innovation Award: Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise

Sponsor: National Intellectual Property Management Office (NIPMO) since 2019

Memeza Shout (Pty) Ltd Director: Ms Thulile Mthethwa For reducing crime, improving the South African Police Service (SAPS) service levels and creating jobs through innovative communication technology and a private/public partnership business model.

Communication Award

Prof Jeanine Marnewick Research Chair: Biotechnology and Director: Applied Microbial and Health Biotechnology Institute, Cape Peninsula University of Technology For leading a team that promotes rooibos tea, to be included in a personal daily regime as a health promoting option, supported by science.

Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Award

Mothong African Heritage Founder Member, Executive Director and Overseer: Traditional Doctor Ephraim C Mabena For uniting scientists, government and the community through the Mothong African Heritage in nature conservation, technology innovation for socio-economic development using indigenous knowledge systems and modern sciences.

Special Annual Theme Award: Plant Health

Prof Michael Wingfield Professor: Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute; and Adviser to the Executive, University of Pretoria For being globally recognised as a SA plant pathologist for a lifetime of contributions to the identification and management of plant diseases, as well as the education and mentorship of large numbers of plant pathologists and entomologists globally.

Pretoria News

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WATCH: Tshwane healer bags award at National Science and Technology Forum - IOL

Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance confirms IVS resumption is part of government’s phased reopening plans – Inside Asian Gaming

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Macaus Secretary for Economy and Finance, Lei Wai Nong, said the resumption of the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS) forms part of the plan of the SAR government to facilitate greater interaction between Macau and mainland China.

Underlining 15 July the date Guangdong Province removed mandatory quarantine on visitors returning from Macau as a particularly important turning point, Lei reiterated that progress so far has clearly demonstrated that Macau is looking to increase its interactions with mainland China in phases.

On July 15, the mainland government adjusted its policy and residents of the two places resumed normal interactions, which is an important turning point for Macau, he said. On July 28, the mainland further relaxed the restrictions for Macau visitors to access the entire Guangdong Province.

We must maintain our preventive works on controlling the epidemic, and we will evaluate the risk to push the interactions between the two places.

The SAR government has kept communicating with the central government and has done pressure tests on our borders.

Lei also revealed that the SAR government would launch policies to attract more Chinese tourists to visit Macau.

He noted that the government has been actively working with stakeholders across the city and has adjusted down its gaming tax budget for 2020 by 49% to MOP$49.98 billion (US$6.26 billion).

Lei said the epidemic has already lasted longer than the government originally expected, and would pay close attention to the economic situation in the third and fourth quarters of this year to consider whether the governments budget needs to be adjusted again.

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Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance confirms IVS resumption is part of government's phased reopening plans - Inside Asian Gaming

MGTO and IPIM to join forces in MICE promotion as Macau recovery begins: Senna Fernandes – Inside Asian Gaming

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The inclusion of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in the Macau SAR governments economy and finance portfolio will trigger a collaboration with the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) to promote MICE together and get MICE business to Macau, said MGTO Director Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes on Wednesday.

Everybody is looking at the MICE market very differently now. There are new protocols and we have various MICE associations in Macau coming up with new ideas as to how they should keep events safe.

Speaking at a France Macau Chamber of Commerce breakfast, Senna Fernandes noted that the MICE sector would be among those hardest hit by COVID-19 with a slow recovery expected starting locally, gradually expanding to mainland China and eventually targeting global markets again.

Likewise, the MGTO which is in the process of moving from Macaus social and cultural affairs portfolio is revisiting its Macao Tourism Industry Development Master Plan post-COVID, Senna Fernandes said, and will need to sit together with tourism operators to look at how we should do business in the future and what sort of other contemplation they would like us to take into consideration going forward, as the China market will also behave a little bit differently than before.

Despite the setbacks of 2020, the MGTO boss did seem to hint at an imminent return for the long-awaited Individual Visit Scheme following a further relaxing of border restrictions between Macau and Guangdong province this week.

Two weeks after Guangdong opened the doors for arrivals from Macau to return to any of nine cities within its borders, officials have now given the green light for residents and approved visitors to access the entire province.

The MGTO is preparing for a very big campaign in China to get back visitors and chipping in with very big offers for them as well, Senna Fernandes said.

There seems to be very, very good signs coming out, and we hope to be able to have some more good news soon.

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MGTO and IPIM to join forces in MICE promotion as Macau recovery begins: Senna Fernandes - Inside Asian Gaming

The Other Hundred project features the pandemic’s unsung heroes – Macau News

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The elderly in nursing homes is one of the most vulnerable groups, especially in this pandemic. Also at risk are its staff, such as Louis Mary Sesu Ratnam, an Indian Catholic nun in her 60s who spends her time helping others at Macaos Caritas Santa Maria Home in the St Lazarus district. Caregivers are essential, especially at these times, she says.

Gonalo Lobo Pinheiro, a Portuguese-born photojournalist based in Macao documented Ratnam and her work for his entry in The Other Hundred project, an annual photography initiative that celebrates unsung heroes around the world.

This year, the non-profit project is honouring those who have helped others heal during this pandemic be it hospital frontliners, volunteers or individual acts of kindness.

Older people are a risk group in this pandemic and I thought the story would be interesting, says Pinheiro by email to South China Morning Post.

Louis Mary Sesu Ratnam is the most visible face of a series of caregivers who care for women, he continues, adding that more than 50 women live at the facility, many dependent on carers. I believe the oldest woman is 107 years old.

Founder of The Other Hundred, Hong Kong-based Chandran Nair says lockdown has made capturing moments of healing more challenging and more important than ever, according to South China Morning Post.

Early in the global reaction to COVID-19, frontline health care workers were rightly lauded for facing this common enemy and in the process, sometimes paying the ultimate price for their acts of service, Nair says.

But as nations faced lockdown and entire communities withdrew to their homes, it became clear that there were other acts of service, courage and healing being performed on a daily basis by innumerable people: the unsung heroes who contribute to healing the very societies of which they are a part, during a time of deep social trauma.

And this is where the beauty lies these moments of healing happen not only through direct medical care, but through the compassion expressed by delivery workers, truck drivers, cleaners, waste collectors, food sellers, volunteers, teachers, supermarket staff, government workers, community heads, village chiefs, therapists and practitioners of alternative methods of wellness.

Other submissions include works from Bangladeshi photographer Mohammad Rakibul Hasan, who turned his lens on transgender couple Toma and Tuktuki as they raise awareness of COVID-19 among Dhakas transgender community, and Delhi-based photographer Javed Sultans series on Doctors on Call, a group of young Indian doctors who provide services to those unable to access medical advice due to the lockdown.

A photo series by Annice Lyn follows Heidy Quah, founder of Refuge for the Refugees, a non-profit organisation that distributes food aid packs among refugee families, migrant workers and low-income citizens in Malaysia.

Through perseverance of our team and the photographers who are our eyes and ears on the ground, we are determined to build a portfolio that represents this moment in human history in a positive light to remember not just the deaths, but the lives of people pulling together despite the ugliness of the state of the world, during an event that no one has experienced before, says Nair.

Submissions for The Other Hundred close on 14 August and the chosen 100 from this years initiative will be released in digital format.

(South China Morning Post/Macau News)PHOTO South China Morning Post/Gonalo Lobo Pinheiro

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The Other Hundred project features the pandemic's unsung heroes - Macau News

Government to ban import of foam food containers in 2021 – Macau News

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Bidding for kitchen waste treatment plant next year

Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA) Director Raymond Tam Vai Man said on Thursday that the government will ban the use of single-use plastics in phases, including a ban on the import of foam food containers from next year.

Tam made the remarks during a plenary session in the legislatures hemicycle where senior officials replied to oral interpellation from lawmakers on various topics.

Meanwhile, Tam also said that the government aimed to invite bids for the construction of a kitchen waste processing plant in Cotai next year.

Tam pointed out that kitchen waste currently accounts for 40 per cent of the citys domestic refuse daily, and the percentage of kitchen waste in relation to all domestic refuse generated daily in commercial premises is even higher than in residential buildings. Tam said that the government began in 2017 to plan to build a central kitchen waste processing plant next to the citys only construction waste landfill in east Cotai.

Tam said that the design and the environmental assessment of the planned kitchen waste plant have almost been completed. Tam said that the government expected the first phase of the kitchen waste plant to be able to process 200 tonnes of kitchen waste daily. Tam also said that a grease treatment plant will be built next to the kitchen waste processing plant.

Too much sea sludge: Rosrio

Meanwhile, Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raimundo do Rosrio said during Thursdays plenum that the amount of sea sludge generated in the city and dumped in the construction waste landfill daily has significantly increased due to the ongoing Cotai hospital complex project officially known as Cotai Health Complex and various private projects. Rosrio said that some amount of sea sludge in the landfill slid towards the airport, which he characterised as a worrying situation.

Rosrio said that therefore the government had decided to suspend the disposal of sea sludge for one week until it completes processing the newly accumulated sea sludge there.

The current landfill for construction waste, the citys only one, has been in operation since 2006. The dump at the east end of Cotai was already overflowing a few years ago, and government officials have warned that the landfill is facing the risk of collapsing. The government launched a project to expand the capacity of the landfill which is located near the airport and the Light Rail Transit (LRT) depot last year.

Facility to sort construction waste

Tam said that the government will build a facility on the construction waste landfill to be used for sorting construction waste. Tam pointed out that on average 1,200 tonnes of construction waste is dumped in the landfill daily, adding that the government expects the future facility to sort out 300 tonnes of flammable construction waste per day, which will then transported to the citys incinerator in Pac On, with the aim of relieving the pressure on the landfill.

Tam also pointed out that the government has set up a facility on the construction waste landfill for refurbishing discarded furniture. Tam said that workers will refurbish the pieces of old furniture that are still in good condition and deliver them to charity associations and the Environmental Protection Bureau to be used again. Tam also said that his bureau would ask other government entities in the future to consider using the refurbished furniture from the facility.

No more residential project in northern district: Rosrio

Meanwhile, Rosrio also said during Thursdays plenum that the government does not intend to approve any new residential projects in the peninsulas northern district (known in Cantonese as bak keoi) as the population density there already stands at 160,000 people per square kilometre adding that the government has not approved any new residential projects in the area in recent years.

Meanwhile, Rosrio also apologised for the incident in which the LRT operator only announced an incident 12 hours after its occurrence early this month, adding that he himself was dissatisfied with the operators late announcement.

(The Macau Post Daily/Macau News)PHOTO DSPA

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Government to ban import of foam food containers in 2021 - Macau News

Chinese Gov’t refutes suspicions that fugitive Jho Low is hiding in Macau – Macau Business

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[Updated to include a statement by the Macau Office of the Secretary for Security on the case]

The Chinese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has refuted statements by Malaysian police authorities that fugitive financier JhoLowishidinginMacau, news agency Reuters reported.

Low is being hunted by Malaysian authorities over his role in the theft of billions looted from sovereign wealth fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), with Malaysian police chief Abdul Hamid Bador alleging on Wednesday that he was hiding in the Macau SAR.

He is there with all the filthy money, Malaysian police chief Abdul Hamid Bador stated to AFP in a text message.

Asked why he had chosen to revealLows location now, the police chief said allegations had been made that officers were purposely slowing down on the effort to bring him to justice.

In a statement Chinese authorities rejected the accusations as groundless and unacceptable and that the position of the Chinese government on combating crime is consistent and clear-cut

China does not and will never shelter foreign criminals, the embassy indicated in the statement Reuters reported

The embassy added that China would continue to give support and assistance to Malaysia in its investigations.

Macau authorities said in 2018 they had received a request through INTERPOL from the Malaysian government but denied he was in the SAR, with the local Judiciary Police having indicated to Macau News Agency that no request had been sent since then by the Southeast Asian countrys authorities.

In a statement today the Office of the Secretary of Security Wong Sio Chak also refuted the statements by Malaysian authorities.

The Malaysian Police, contrary to the rules and practices in the scope of international police cooperation, unilaterally disclosed that [Jho Low] is in Macau, information that does not correspond to the truth, the Office indicated.

Charged in both Malaysia and the United States over the 1MDB scandal,Lowhas been accused by Najibs lawyers of being the mastermind behind the scam and tricking the former premier.

Najib, who founded 1MDB, was on Tuesday sentenced to 12 years in jail and fined almost US$50 million on corruption charges relating to the scandal, which contributed to the downfall of his government in 2018.

The former leader is still to face the conclusion of a second trial that began in August last year centred on allegations he illicitly obtained more than US$500 million.

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British PM Boris Johnson hands brother top honour – Macau Business

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday gave his brother Jo a former junior minister who quit over his elder siblings approach to leaving the European Union a top honour with a seat in the upper House of Lords.

Former premier Theresa Mays husband Philip will also receive a knighthood for political service, the government said, as it unveiled a list of 36 nominations.

The former House of Commons speaker John Bercow, who repeatedly tried to foil the governments Brexit plans, however, was denied a seat in the upper house.

He is the first former speaker in over two centuries not to receive the honour.

Other notable new lords include the Russian-born British newspaper owner Evgeny Lebedev and the Brexit-supporting cricketer Ian Botham.

But the nominations drew scorn from Johnsons political foes.

He has displayed the worst kind of cronyism by giving jobs for life to friends and those who have done him favours, opposition Scottish National Party lawmaker Pete Wishart said.

Brexit supporters accused Bercow of creating voting obstacles in the year it took bickering lawmakers to finally ratify Britains divorce deal with the EU.

A 2018 report also accused Bercow of presiding over a culture in which bullying, harassment and sexual harassment have been able to thrive in parliament. He denied the allegations.

But he also enjoyed his fair share of successes.

His bellows of Order! Order! during the Brexit saga went viral and made him briefly into an international media star.

Bercow published a candid autobiography and joined the lucrative lecture circuit after stepping down in October.

The House of Lords will now comprise more than 800 members because peers are allowed to resign or retire but are otherwise expected to serve for life.

This list of new peers marks a lost opportunity to reduce numbers in the House of Lords, House of Lords speaker Peter Fowler said.

Fowlers office had recommended cutting the chamber down to 600 members tops.

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British PM Boris Johnson hands brother top honour - Macau Business

Recovered from virus, Bolsonaro says nothing to fear – Macau Business

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Fresh off a bout of COVID-19, President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday nearly everyone will probably end up catching the new coronavirus, urging Brazilians to face up to it and saying there was nothing to fear.

The far-right leaders latest bid to downplay the pandemic came as Brazil closed in on the grim milestone of 100,000 people killed by the virus, the second-highest death toll in the world, after the United States.

Bolsonaro, who is just coming off three weeks in quarantine with a case of the virus, pointed to his own case as an example.

Im in the high-risk group, the 65-year-old president told journalists during a visit to the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul.

I knew I was going to catch it someday, as I think unfortunately nearly everyone here is going to catch it eventually. What are you afraid of? Face up to it, he said.

I regret the deaths. But people die every day, from lots of things. Thats life.

Bolsonaro has faced criticism for his handling of the pandemic as it has surged in Brazil, the country with the second-highest number of cases and deaths in the world: more than 2.6 million and 92,000, respectively.

Bolsonaro, who has compared the virus to a little flu, has fought stay-at-home measures to contain it and regularly flouted social distancing guidelines, hitting the streets of Brasilia to exchange handshakes and hugs with supporters.

He tested positive for the virus on July 7 after coming down with a fever, and spent three weeks in isolation at the presidential palace.

On Thursday, in his first public event since his illness, he greeted a crowd of supporters in the northeastern state of Piaui, removing his face mask to loud cheers.

The same day, the presidents office announced his wife had tested positive for the virus.

Bolsonaro later revealed he was again feeling poorly and was taking antibiotics for an infection that he called moldy lungs caused by inactivity during his quarantine.

Bolsonaro argues stay-at-home measures are needlessly hurting the economy.

He is instead pushing the drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for the virus, and took it himself when he was infected, despite numerous studies finding it has no benefit against COVID-19.

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Recovered from virus, Bolsonaro says nothing to fear - Macau Business

Hengqin, the second Macau | Crossroads of Macau tourism – Macau Business

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Even though the difficulties are still noticeable, ties between Macau and Hengqin are tightening, driven by the current Chief Executive who sees the future of economic diversification over there, a stones throw away.

MB July 2020 Special Report | CrossroadsofMacautourism

Lets say someone picks up this special report 20 years from now.

He will probably laugh at some of the things that are said here, but there is (at least ) one in which we are sure that this will not happen: the bet on Hengqin will be increasingly strategic and, step by step, the two locations will discover the benefits of a common future.

Why 20 years?

Because it will take a long time before the relationship is sufficiently oiled so that it is not noticed, at each step taken, that there are two legal systems, a duplication of services or, to give a very objective example, differences in internet access on each side of the river.

It will take time, finally, to assume once and for all that Macau is not in a position, on its own, to develop a project for economic and tourist diversification, needing space to create, for example, theme parks as happens with Hengqin.

In this context, the current Executive Chief has already made a difference.

In his first Policy Address, Ho Iat Seng said that the solution for the diversification of Macaus economy lies in taking advantage of the opportunities that are emerging on Hengqin Island, within the scope of the regional integration plan in the Great Bay Area.

According to the Chief Executive, diversifying the economy is the path that Macau must follow, which lacks persistence, an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit in its process. The way forward, he argued, taking into account the existing difficulties, such as geographical limitations and the lack of resources, goes through, regional cooperation, namely at the level of joint development of Hengqin, an area that, may provide new spaces and conditions for the proper diversification of Macaus economy in order not only to produce more income and fortunes, but also to forge a solid economic base for Macaus long-term stability and to find new opportunities for the development of the population, in particular of young people.

The following month, interviewed in Beijing by China News Services, Ho Iat Seng went even further, speaking of Hengqins function to be the, second Macau. The islands 106 square kilometres, three times larger than the entire land area of Macau, make it an inevitable, stopping point along the route of the Grande Bay, he said.

On the same occasion, the Chief Executive said that the construction of the light rail connection line to Hengqin provides Macau residents with access to the Chinese high-speed rail line. This connection can represent a huge leap forward for tourism and business.

While it will highlight the umbilical cord with tourists from Guangdong province, which some experts have signalled, the marriage to Hengqin will decrease dependence on connections with Hong Kong, including the airport on the neighbouring island and local immigration controls.

Macau recorded double-digit growth of international visitors in the first half of 2019. However, international visitors significantly dropped in the second half of last year, influenced by the situation in Hong Kong, said Director of Macau Government Tourism Office recently. We have to review our current civil aviation network to expand our international markets, which is a long-term goal for us, added Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes.

Hengqin Island is an essential element for Macau to actively participate in the build up of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, states Professor Matthew Liu, Director of the Centre for Continuing Education, University of Macau. The Macau government is coordinating with Hengqin on development of high-tech manufacturing industry in Hengqin, he ads. I personally have an optimistic outlook that Macaus moderate economic diversification can get satisfactory results in the next decade.

Ecotourism?

It is known that there are more and more tourists interested in walking trails and enjoying nature.

Ecotourism can therefore be part of a wider program of tourist diversification.

But Macaus supply will always be reduced.

Jack Ly, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Institute for Tourism Studies considers that as, whenever the destination can reach the following four criteria, you can claim there is an ecotourism/natural tourism activity going on: Basis in natural environment; learning or appreciation about the natural attractions that form the basis of the ecotourism product; the spirit of ecotourism is to sustain, with financial viability.

While we scan through these 4 criteria, Macau has basically fulfilled these 4 conditions in my thinking, however, our government did not bunch them together as an ecotourism product, he states to Macau Business. Thats why, he insists, many people dont think there is any ecotourism in Macau. I think we might develop a paper to assess ecotourism/natural tourism in Macau involving the ideas of the major stakeholders.

For now, international tourists coming to Macau to do ecotourism/nature-based tourism can only go to Coloane Island.

We dont have any guidance or promotion from the Macau Government to give them information about nature-based tourism Jack Ly

But, Professor Ly argues, we dont have any guidance or promotion from the Macau Government to give them information about nature-based tourism. This is something MGTO should consider in the future.

The same opinion can be found in the study, Market Segmentation by Travel Motivations Under a Transforming Economy: Evidence from the Monte Carlo of the Orient (2018), where the authors state that, a new image as a leisure destination that provides full relaxation and freedom should be constructed creating more local events for tourists to participate in to experience the local culture and lifestyle.

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Ethereum Miners’ Income Soars by 60% in a Month – CoinDesk – CoinDesk

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The daily income earned by Ethereum miners has soared by over 60% in a month, according to data tracked by Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool.

The surge in daily profit from Ethereum mining surge has also outpaced ethers (ETH) price jump of 40% over the same period.

The profitability rise comes thanks to soaring transaction fees on the network, as well as relatively slow growth in competition from other miners.

Sparkpools data shows Ethereum miners daily income was around $1.85 per 100 megahashes second (MH/s) on the network on June 27. Over the past month, and the last two weeks in particular, this has jumped by 60% and reached as high as $3.27 on July 25. The metric has since dropped back to around $3.

During the same period, ethers price has gone up by nearly 40%, from $229 on June 27 to $327 at time of writing, the highest price point for over a year.

Transaction fees on the network, which form part of a miners daily revenue, have reached a two-year high as the hype around decentralized finance (DeFi) brought a spike in network activities.

However, the total computing power competing on the worlds second largest blockchain network by market capitalization has remained steady around 190 petahashes per second, blockchain explorer Etherscan shows.

In fact, data from Bitinfocharts indicates daily mining revenue on Ethereum had remained below $2 per 100 MH/s during the first quarter of the year and dropped to $1 per 100 MH/s following the crypto market crash on March 12. But in the four months since, daily mining revenue has tripled.

Currently, some state-of-art Ethereum mining equipment, such as InnoSilicons A10 Pro with a computing power of 485 megahashes per second (MH/s), can generate $12.92 in daily revenue at Ethereums current price and mining difficulty.

With an electricity of cost of $0.03 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), one A10 Pro machine is able to bring home a daily net profit of nearly $12, according to mining pool F2Pools miner profitability tracker.

Profit at that level exceeds some top-of-the-line Bitcoin miners by almost 100%, although bitcoins price has jumped above $10,000 over the weekend for the first time since early June. The sudden increase came after weeks of low price volatility that kept the cryptocurrency stuck between $9,000 and $9,500.

However, Bitcoins mining difficulty is still around its all-time-high. As such, even the most efficient Bitcoin miners, like MicroBTs WhatsMiner M30S++ and Bitmains AntMiner S19 Pro, are generating a daily revenue of $9 per unit.

At an electricity cost of $0.03 per kWh, that would provide a daily profit of around $6.50 at bitcoins current price and difficulty, data from mining pool PoolIn shows. In general, industrial electricity cost for crypto mining can range between $0.03 to $0.06 per kWh.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

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Ethereum Miners' Income Soars by 60% in a Month - CoinDesk - CoinDesk

EOS, Ethereum and Ripple’s XRP Daily Tech Analysis August 1st, 2020 – FX Empire

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For the day ahead

Ethereum would need to avoid a fall through the $341.65 pivot to support a run at the first major resistance level at $354.95.

Support from the broader market would be needed, however, for Ethereum to break out form Fridays high $349.74.

Barring an extended crypto rally, the first major resistance level should cap any upside.

A fall through the $341.65 pivot would bring the first major support level at $333.56 into play.

Barring an extended sell-off, however, Ethereum should steer well clear of the second major support level at $320.26.

First Major Support Level: $333.56

Pivot Level: $341.65

First Major Resistance Level: $354.95

23.6% FIB Retracement Level: $257

38.2% FIB Retracement Level: $367

62% FIB Retracement Level: $543

Ripples XRP rallied by 6.22% on Friday. Following on from a 0.36% gain on Thursday, Ripples XRP ended the month up by 48.21% to $0.25983.

Tracking the broader market, Ripples XRP fell to an early morning intraday low $0.24201 before finding support.

Steering clear of the first major support level at $0.2359, Ripples XRP rallied to a late intraday high $0.26078.

Ripples XRP broke through the first major resistance level at $0.2517 and the second major resistance level at $0.2587.

On the day, it was the first visit to $0.26 levels since early February before wrapping up the day at $0.2590 levels.

At the time of writing, Ripples XRP was down by 0.28% to $0.25909. A mixed start to the day saw Ripples XRP rise to an early morning high $0.26021 before falling to a low $0.25833.

Ripples XRP left the major support and resistance levels untested early on.

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Ethereum locked in Maker hits $1 billion. But for how long? – Decrypt

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Decentralized finance protocol Maker today hit the $1 billion mark of total value locked (TVL) into its smart contracts.

The value locked in refers to the amount of money running through its smart contracts to be used for lending. Crypto data provider Messari said today that Maker is the first DeFi protocol to reach the $1 billion TVL milestone, lead in large part by the "liquidity mining" shake-up otherwise known as "yield farming."

Maker is now the third-largest DeFi token by market cap, according to data from DeFi Market Cap, and the most valuable DeFi protocol in terms of total value locked in. Compound, which launched its governance token COMP in June to much fanfare, isnt too far behind at nearly $800 million.

The DeFi industry has continued to grow at a monumental pace. The amount of value locked into DeFi hit $4 billion at the weekend. It is now back down again at $3.6 billion, according to metrics site DeFi Pulse.

DeFi aims to revolutionize the way finance works by running borrowing and lending protocols on the Ethereum blockchain. It has grown at such a quick pace in part due to liquidity miningor yield farming, according to Messari. This activity, which sees DeFi platforms offer token incentives in exchange for users' deposits, is seeing investors reap huge returns.

But not everyone thinks the growth is sustainable. Even Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum (the platform most DeFi projects run on) has expressed a degree of skepticism. Decentralized finance should not be about optimizing yield, he said in a tweet last month after the price of Compounds COMP token went through the roof.

Some have also warned that DeFi could also be a bubble on the verge of bursting.

MKR is the governance token that dictates how MakerDAOs decentralized stablecoin, DAI, is run. DAI, which launched in 2017, is a ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain pegged to the US dollar.

MKR holders are able to vote on decisions to help keep the price of DAI stable. MKR tokens are burned or created to keep the price of DAI pegged to the dollar. In addition to that, MakerDAOs algorithms automatically manage the price of DAI, so no one person needs to be trusted to keep the currency steady.

The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.

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Ethereum locked in Maker hits $1 billion. But for how long? - Decrypt

Ethereum-based YFI skyrockets over 11,000% in one week and reaches $4,000 – Crypto News Flash

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The phenomenal growth of Ethereums DeFi sector continues. The total value of all assets allocated to a DeFi application currently exceeds $3.84 billion. However, the currently undisputed star in the ecosystem is the token of the yearn.finance protocol, YFI, which is currently attracting the attention of investors and the whole crypto community.

The YFI token was launched as a governance token by the developers of the yearn.finance protocol, whereby they warned investors that it would initially be worth $0. However, within 24 hours of its launch, YFI posted a 2,000% increase in value. The token has risen from a value of $0 to the current price at the time of release of $3,907, with a gain of 95% in the last 24 hours alone. Overall, YFI has posted a gain of over 11,000% over the last week (since last Saturday).

According to Coingeckos data, YFI has a supply of 26,000 tokens and its trading volume over the last 24 stood at $53,829,964. The token has caused a frenzy among investors because of the incentive program which promises its holders an annual interest of 1,000%. Regarding this, Ethereum core developer Eric Conner commented that trading in the DeFi sector is turning centralized exchanges into irrelevant entities:

Centralized exchanges are slowly becoming irrelevant. YFI is the hottest thing in DeFi and is only being traded on Balancer and Uniswap. It has nearly the same 24 hour trading volume as COMP and MKR.

By comparison, Ethereum (ETH) is priced at $284, at the time of publication with a 5% gain in the last 24 hours. Despite being one of the cryptocurrencies with the highest increases in value within the last month, ETH is only recording a 21% gain. In line with that, the number one cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin, has had almost two months of modest gains. BTCs current price is at $9,609 with an increase in value of 1% within the last 24 hours.

This is an example of how the tokens of the Ethereum DeFi sector outshine the major cryptocurrencies. According to a survey on Twitter, some users believe that YFI will reach $10,000 before Bitcoin (BTC). The poll was conducted by Andrew Kang with 1153 users participating. Kang commented on the result as follows:

Only YFI holders will be permitted to the upper echelons of society. Non YFI holders will be shunned, socially and financially. At best forced to become servants to the new upper class. At worst executed for crimes against the YFI empire.

Another sign of the rapid expansion of the DeFi sector is the price performance of the Aave loan protocol. Its LEND token has been outperforming other popular tokens, such as the MKR token of the Maker DAO platform and Compounds COMP.

In that sense, the Total Value Locked on the platform has reached a new all-time high of $600 million with an increase of 90% over the last 30 days. Although it has fallen in the last 24 hours, the TVL of Aave still stands at $544 million, as can be seen in the graph below.

Source: https://defipulse.com/aave

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Ethereum-based YFI skyrockets over 11,000% in one week and reaches $4,000 - Crypto News Flash

Devs are trying to copy the Ethereum DeFi token that rallied 100,000% in a week – CryptoSlate

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If youve been following Ethereum, decentralized finance, or crypto in general over the past week, you likely know of the native coin of yearn.finance, YFI.

The cryptocurrency, based on the Ethereum network, has been dubbed the fairest cryptocurrency since Bitcoin, which is in reference to its scarce supply, lack of ICO, and its seemingly benevolent developers.

Crypto investors have paid heavily for this fairness. As reported by CryptoSlate, in the span of eight days, YFI gained literally 100,000 percent. The token is now one of the top-100 cryptocurrencies, despite it launching just earlier this month.

Whats even funnier is that when YFI launched, the crypto token was pitched as one with literally zero value. Heres an excerpt from the Medium of the projects lead developer:

We have released YFI, a completely valueless 0 supply token. We re-iterate, it has 0 financial value. There is no pre-mine, there is no sale, no you cannot buy it, no, it wont be on uniswap, no, there wont be an auction. We dont have any of it.

The resounding and somewhat puzzling success of YFI hasnt gone unnoticed. Far from. YFI has created such a stir that there are other developers trying to copy it.

Enter YFII.

Yeah, thats not a typo some developers just rolled out a project that added an extra I to YFI. According to data from CoinGecko, this new altcoin has already amassed a market capitalization in excess of $7 million and has gained over 50 percent in the past 24 hours.

This token was launched on July. 26, more than a week after the launch of the original token, and is reportedly being managed by a team of Chinese developers.

The story here is purportedly that there were governance issues with yearn.finance over proposal #8, which suggested YFIs distribution should be done in a similar to how Bitcoin has block reward halvings.

Wanting to run with this idea, which wasnt implemented in the legitimate yearn.finance, developers purportedly forked the protocol to create YFII.

In a sense, YFII was created for a similar reason as Bitcoin Cash.

Developers attempted to replicate the virgin birth of YFI by burning their admin keys to the contract of the cryptocurrency, meaning they cannot create the asset out of thin air or do anything else nefarious.

Although the admin keys have been burned and YFII is appreciating at a rapid clip, not everyone in the Ethereum and DeFi community think the project is legitimate or has merit.

One commentator noted that Brave Browser labeled the website of the project as a potential phishing site, while this own writer faced a similar issue when he was on his computer with McAfee anti-virus.

Then prominent Ethereum commentator Safetythird wrote:

Yes the contracts & website may (or may not) be ok, But YFII doesnt have any function or value. I wouldnt touch it, and wouldnt advise you to either.

How YFII plays out, in the long run, isnt clear. But from a pure numbers standpoint, factoring in its market capitalization and the total value of tokens locked in the protocol, it is seeing some success.

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Devs are trying to copy the Ethereum DeFi token that rallied 100,000% in a week - CryptoSlate

Cardano Proof-Of-Stake: You Already Bet WITH Crypto, Why Not Bet ON Crypto? – SportsBetting.Legal

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We love sports betting. Its our favorite hobby.

But nobody wins all the time, and many people actually lose money in the long run.

While thats fine for the millions of bettors that simply wager for fun or in solidarity with their favorite teams, if your goal is to finish in the black, successful betting takes a lot of work.

In our experience, risk mitigation and money management are the two aspects of the pastime to which most gamblers dont give nearly enough credence.

Of course, this goes beyond simple bankroll management or statistical research (which are both important in their own right). Instead, this is conceptual stuff that transcends the actual act of sports betting itself.

Case in point: Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

These are popular among gamblers not only because they offer the most secure sportsbook transactions and garner the best bonuses, but also because crypto is a very popular method for players betting from all 50 states. Even more enticing is the fact that crypto is a form of gambling unto itself.

When you buy and spend cryptocurrencies, you are helping increase the value of these coins as a whole. Indeed, many bettors who deposit with crypto find that their payouts actually increase in value over time as the crypto itself appreciates.

Using or investing in crypto is something all bettors should strongly consider, as it is useful for both risk mitigation and money management.

Yes, you can wager with the stuff, but treating crypto as an investment can be just as profitable or more profitable than betting on sports.

Bitcoin betting is popular, but BTC is a first-generation crypto and has some sustainability issues that other virtual currencies have long tried to improve upon.

The most successful next-generation cryptocurrency and the most attractive one to gamblers and those looking to cash in on a sure thing (with the proviso that there are no sure things) is Cardano, or ADA.

Why?

Cardano, a third-generation cryptocurrency platform founded by Charles Hoskinson and IOHK (Input Output Hong Kong), has apparently solved the problem inherent in earlier iterations of decentralized, blockchain-based systems.

Today, Bitcoin while decentralized from government influence is mined almost exclusively by a handful of major tech companies. In the past, any individual could make money mining BTC on their home computers, but that ship has sailed. Today, it takes massive data centers with millions of dollars of powerful computers to profitably mine Bitcoin.

So Bitcoin is decentralized from government influence, but it is extremely centralized in corporate influence, which is not ideal.

Cardano works differently.

Just yesterday, at 5:00 PM EST, Cardano achieved proof-of-stake (PoS), one of the holy grails of legitimate cryptocurrency platforms.

By hard-forking from the centralized Byron network to the decentralized Shelley network, five years of concept, design, and adoption have come to fruition.

Using the Ouroboros protocol, Cardano is now the first provably secure proof-of-stake cryptocurrency, and it is in theory infinitely scalable.

The same way that Bitcoin has a bottleneck, Cardano is an open glass. And for bettors, the main point is that said glass isnt even close to half full yet. In other words, the stakes are low, with the current market price of ADA averaging about $0.14 per unit. You can still get in on the ground floor.

If you have a few hundred dollars lying around, you might be compelled to wager that cash on some current sporting event or other. But with any such bet, you stand to make a meager return compared against Cardanos inevitable near-term growth.

Back in January 2018, when Cardanos peer-reviewed blockchain and stake pool dreams were still years off, the speculation about the benefits of this system led the coin to achieve its all-time high of $1.33 per unit.

The following crypto crash wiped out those gains, but ADA has doubled in value over the last month, and yesterdays Shelley hard fork is a harbinger of great things to come.

Per Coindesks summary of yesterdays news:

By implementing Shelley on Cardanos mainnet, staking pools will now be able to register on the chain visible to token holders, enabling them to delegate to pools immediately once registered.

The PoS delegation process lets users holding Cardanos native ADA token commit their tokens to a pool for a share of rewards [i.e. more ADA], which [IOHK] said will incentivize the network to run accurately.

Hoskinson himself has high hopes for the immediate future of Cardano now that its biggest hurdle to date has been cleared. He tweeted as much back on Sunday:

Of course, as with any bet, if you read the responses to the above tweet, there are skeptics and naysayers that is, people taking the other side of the proposal.

All cryptocurrencies even proven successes like Bitcoin, Ethereum (also co-founded by Hoskinson), Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin have their vehement detractors. It can be difficult to separate the hype from the reality, and given cryptos speculatory nature, it is actually valuable to hear from those who are cold on Cardano.

Remember, this is pure betting like any other, and your goal is to make an informed wager.

That said, weve been following Cardano closely for several years (almost since its very inception), and were convinced that the Shelley fork is a momentous occasion.

Most cryptocurrencies never achieve or even approach the lofty goals peddled to investors early on. ICOs, or initial coin offerings, are notorious for flaming out after their first bump.

However, Cardano has lived up to its timeline expectations so far, and with Shelley going live, one of its biggest challenges has been met. The next page where it goes from here is all about where you go from here. Which should be all the way to the bank.

If or, in our opinion, when Cardano takes off and forces its way atop the list of the most-traded cryptocurrencies (where its currently trending at number eight in global market capitalization), theres a very good chance that legal sports betting sites and online casinos will adopt it for banking and wagering.

Right now, the best reviewed offshore gambling operators accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple, all of which are within the top seven coins. Cardano is right there, and should it be accepted for use at your betting site of choice, you wont just be able to bet on Cardano, youll be able to bet with Cardano!

And vice versa.

Source: Coindesk, Cardano.org

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Cardano Proof-Of-Stake: You Already Bet WITH Crypto, Why Not Bet ON Crypto? - SportsBetting.Legal

5 things to expect of new online casinos – Business MattersBusiness Matters

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Those of us who grew up in the 1980s and 90s will remember our parents and grandparents looking on in puzzled bewilderment at the technology encompassed by a Commodore 64 or later a Sega Saturn. Today, these are museum pieces.

If there is one thing that can drive change even faster than evolving technology it is a competitive market. Spend a couple of minutes watching those late night TV ads, and you can see we certainly have that in the casino gaming sector. High competition and amazing technological advances mean this area of gaming is moving even faster than the rest. There are new online casinos appearing on the scene every week, and every one of them has to offer something a little different to the rest. Here are five areas that are evolving before our very eyes.

Live gaming is when the player interacts with a real dealer via webcam instead of just watching a computer generated deck of cards or roulette wheel on the screen. It makes for a more immersive experience and brings the atmosphere of a real casino into cyberspace, something that has become even more important in recent months for obvious reasons.

Depositing money safely into a casino account and being able to withdraw winnings quickly are two areas that can give the site a competitive edge. Choice is key here, as there are so many online payment platforms available. A vital area of development is in the area of cryptocurrency. Digital payment is the perfect fit for money gaming in a digital casino, and we should expect Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to be a standard option with most new casinos.

When products like the Oculus Rift hit the shelves a couple of years ago, it seemed that virtual reality had finally hit the mainstream. It has not quite taken off as expected, but VR is still one of the most exciting forms of gaming technology at the cutting edge. The casino environment is the perfect place for VR, thanks to the relative simplicity of, for example, a spinning wheel or a turning card.

When the Nevada Gaming Commission introduced new rules on skill-based games, it opened up a world of possibilities. Now, new casinos can offer games that go beyond the standard slots, card games and so on. From platform games to driving simulators, the sky is the limit, and all with real money payouts for the top performers.

For all that innovation, however, the classic games like blackjack and roulette are still the most popular. Expect new casinos to find ways to repackage these and offer new twists. We are already starting to see this in games like Lightning Roulette where a lightning strike on random numbers adds a route to extra bonuses.

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5 things to expect of new online casinos - Business MattersBusiness Matters