US February Chicago Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) reported 59.5, lower than market expectations of 61.1, and also lower than the two-year high of 63.8 in January. The index is above 50, reflecting the expansion of business activities in the Chicago area.
Category: Gigs
Gigs

Amazon Bookstore Removes a Book on Transgenderism
Amazon has recently decided to remove the book written by Ryan T. Anderson, “When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment,” from its website. As of this writing, the book is no longer available for sale on Amazon. The reason for the book being removed is an inflammatory case against transgender people.

Amazon Film Focus
Amazon has acquired one of the most popular independent film producers in the entertainment industry, producing and distributing movies. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said that he saw the acquisition as an opportunity for the company to cash in on the independent film revolution.

Robinhood Has A Secret
Foreign media quoted news reports that Robinhood, a US stock trading platform, plans to secretly submit an IPO application as early as next month and negotiate with the underwriters in the past week. In last year’s round of financing, the company was valued at $11.7 billion. It is reported that Robinhood started planning for an IPO this year at least last year.

Black Workers Says Amazon Has a Race Issue
Black employees at Amazon say that they are the targets of racial slurs and disrespect. Amazon is one of the most admired brands in the world, so the world thinks that all their employees would be excited about going there to work. But apparently not, because many of them say that they are afraid to go because of the hostile climate at work.

Drivers Dissatisfied with Amazon Placing Cameras in Delivery Vehicles
Amazon is putting cameras in its delivery trucks. It has been using them for quite a while now, according to CNN. Many more small and large businesses are implementing similar technology on their trucks now. These include post offices, pizza shops, retailers, and even convenience store franchises.

Is SEO the Best Way to Promote Products Online?
The internet has not become a market for selling products and services to customers globally. Businesses use different techniques and technologies to promote their products and services online. One of the most used techniques for online product selling is SEO. By increasing traffic on your websites, you can gain better visibility and promote your products. Promotion of products on the internet will help you gain more potential customers from all around the world.

5 Reasons Why Online Marketing is Flourishing (and How You Can Use It in Your Business)
Online marketing is bigger than ever before. Ecommerce and the online marketplace are industries that have thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic. They have experienced an unprecedented boom during a period that has seen many other sectors and industries struggle to survive.
But why is this? And more importantly, how can you and your business capitalise on it? Below, we take a look at five key reasons why online marketing is flourishing — and how you can get in on the action!

Why Digital Marketing is Now the Future
COVID-19 has impacted the way we live life and go about our daily business. This may be how life will be for the foreseeable future, which is why we believe digital marketing will become a common practice in every business’s processes.
Here are our reasons why we believe this, and some useful insights included to get your business online…

Russia — Putin Focuses A Full Day of Negotiation with Lukashenko
The president of Russia Vladimir Putin and the president of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko will hold the talks in Sochi this week. The talks are on the eve of the February 23rd, which traditionally is the holiday that honors men in Russia. Lukashenko arrived in Sochi well an advance and this is the first time, Lukashenko left Belarus after the beginning of the protests.

New Zealand — Standard and Poor Upgrades Rating
S&P Global Ratings upgraded New Zealand’s foreign currency and local currency sovereign credit ratings by one notch to AA+ and AAA, saying that New Zealand is recovering from the impact of the new crown epidemic faster than most advanced economies.

Boeing — “Suspend Flights and All 777-Type Aircraft”
The Boeing Company of the United States said that it is recommended that airlines suspend flights and all 777-type aircraft that use the same engine as the United Airlines aircraft that occurred recently. Previously, the Japanese aviation regulatory agency had requested domestic airlines to suspend the service of aircraft of the same model with the same engine.

Russia — Judge Sentences Navalny Despite European Court of Human Rights Appeal
Russia has decided that Vladimir Putin’s main rival, Alexei Navalny should remain behind bars. International pressure and the request of the European Court of Human Rights that the politician be set free with immediate effect apparently fell on deaf ears as the Putin led administration failed to be convinced to free the Russian firebrand opposition politician.

Alabama — Politician Encourages Amazon Workers to Unionize
Alabama’s Amazon warehouse workers have gotten a boost in their bid to unionize. Stacey Abrams, a Georgia democrat has encouraged the workers to vote to join the union. On a video posted on Saturday, the leader called on the workers to form a union so that they make their jobs more ‘secure, safer and stronger.’

Amazon Amassing Control Over Air Fleet
Amazon Air is said to be making an average of 140 flights a day a significant growth. According to a report from the DePaul University Chaddick Institte for Metropolitan Development, the flights are expected to move to 160 and above by June this year since new airplanes are to be added to the fleet.

Russia — ‘NATO Threat to Whole World’
The Russian Gosduma made a statement pertaining the NATO actions, which pose political and military threats not only to Russia, but also to the whole world. Moscow naturally wants to weaken the alliance. The statement was made by the First Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on the International Affairs Dmitry Novikov.

Burma — Protesters Riot, Two Killed, Disbelieve Army’s Promise to Hold Elections
The crackdown on a demonstration in Burma’s second largest city, Mandalay, left two dead. For two weeks, protesters in various parts of the country have protested the military coup that overthrew the de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and are calling for her return to power.

UK — Amazon Accused of Treating Workers Unfairly
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has decried this move adding that the employees have been treated as disposable labor and have been left with a struggle to clear their bills. It also said that workers received fewer shifts than what was indicated in the advertisement.

Harry and Meghan Family Divorce
Buckingham Palace announced following Harry’s confirmation to his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, that he and Meghan would formally and finally step away from their royal duties just weeks before a 12-month trial separation was set to end.

Russian Opposition Locked Away
On February 20th, Alexey Navalny had two court hearings. Alexey Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021 and has been detained at the Moscow airport. Subsequently, he was given a prison sentence of the 2.8 years. Navalny legal team appealed the sentence and on February 20th, his appeal was heard.

The “Buy-In” Strengthens Cryptocurrency
Bitcoin, the most popular and valued cryptocurrency, continues to break records. on Friday, it passed the high threshold of $ 1 trillion in capitalization, according to data from CoinMarketCap. The valuation of the cryptocurrency also exceeded $54,000, continuing the rise at the highest levels ever.

Russian’s Third Vaccine Utilizes Whole Virus
Russia registered third coronavirus vaccine. Coronavirus continues to be a serious barrier for the world economies. Currently, there over 111 million infected and over 2.4 million deaths around the globe. The new vaccine was developed by the Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune-and-Biological Products of Russian Academy of Sciences.

German Russian Dual Citizen Charged Treason
Russia announced Demuri Voronin has been charged with treason. Voronin is a dual citizen of Russia and Germany. It would be imperative for Germany to take a pro active approach to aid him. Clearly, the Russian citizen Alexei Navalny was aided by Germany, including providing him with the German security services proaction, during Navalny stay in Germany.

Amazon Greed New Low Amid Emergency
This week the weather created a lot of challenges in the US and Canada. In the US southern states, there was historic snow fall, power outages, water boiling orders and conservation. In Texas, the Griddy wholesale electricity company sent out notices to their customers suggesting they find another provider due to the skyrocketing prices.

Ether Floating High
The price of virtual currency continued to rise sharply. After Bitcoin broke the top again and broke through $56,000, Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest virtual currency, also surpassed the $2,000 mark and reached a new high. According to Coindesk’s quotation data, Ether hit a high of $2036 in 24 hours, and the latest price still rose by more than 5% to $2030.

Trading Real Dollars for Virtual Dollars
The virtual currency Bitcoin continued its upward trend today, breaking through the $53,000 mark and hitting a new high. According to Coindesk’s quotation, it was as high as $53,248.06. It is now reported at $53,217.47, an increase of 2.06%, and the market value is $991.56 billion.

Taxpayers Must Report Gig Economy Income on Their Tax Return
In 2020, many people joined the gig economy to help make ends meet during the pandemic. Whether it’s a side business or a primary source of income, all taxpayers need to understand how their gig work affects their taxes. The bottom line is taxpayers must report gig economy income on their tax return.
Here’s a quick overview of the gig economy:

Turkey — Propaganda Machine at Work
The president of Turkey Recep Erdogan is actively pushing his agenda and falsely claiming that Turkey has geopolitical, economic, scientific and technical prospects. The PR machine constantly produces “new” publications and social media posts to cater to the wide range of audience.

PayPal Hidden Issues Revealed
At present, there is a demand to purchase online and pay later. The platforms like Klarna Quadpay and AfterPay becoming increasingly popular. They allow the consumers to purchase items from a large number of the online stores using interest free payments split in 4. The payments are billed every 2 weeks.

Russia — Putin May Disable Foreign Internet Service Providers and Social Media
The Russian president Vladimir Putin stated on February 14th that he does not rule out disabling all foreign internet service providers and the social media. The measures could come into effect, if there will be disguised attacks on Russia and the new sanctions.

Putin — West Is Using Navalny As “Containment Policy”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused Western countries of using the country’s currently imprisoned opposition politician, Alexeï Navalny as part of Russia’s “containment policy.” “The stronger we become, the stronger the containment policy”, he argued.

Amazon — Alabama Union Vote by Mail
Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama have continued with their unionization push as pressure continues to mount. It is alleged that workers are short break and failure to return to work on time would mean a cut on the pay or dismissal from work. Workers have decried poor working conditions in the company’s facilities.

Amazon Sues New York’s Attorney General
Amazon.com Inc has sued New York’s Attorney General Letitia James. In the complaint that was filed at Brooklyn federal court, Amazon accuses the Attorney General of overstepping her boundaries. In the suit, Amazon wants the Attorney General to regulate safety measures at work places.

The Hague —Karim Khan Elected ICC Chief Prosecutor
A majority of the 72 signatory countries of the Rome Statute on Friday elected the British Karim Khan as the new chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court ( ICC ) to replace Fatou Bensouda, who took office in 2012. The new chief prosecutor will be the third to hold this position in the history of the organization.

How to Use Empathy in Your Copy
Content Marketing in a Post-COVID-19 World
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the digital marketing world forever in a multitude of ways. From pivoting businesses, to how we craft our content, this post-COVID-19 society is an ever-changing one and marketing your business online needs to keep up.
In the blog post, we will take you through the importance of using empathy in your copy and give you some industry-insight in order to help you create content that stands out from the crowd in all the right ways.

Oil Prices Recovered After 5 Year Low
The oil prices continue to climb higher. The price of oil has now recovered after it dropped to a five-year low. In fact, the price of oil is now up over $60 a barrel, which makes many people wonder what will trigger the price of oil to go even higher.

Hyundai Motor Says No Joint Car-building Plan with Apple
In recent years, there have been many sources of news that have confirmed that Apple has started a car project internally, but it has not been fully implemented. Recently, there have been many rumors that Apple will cooperate with Hyundai’s Kia Motors.

Amazon Fail 2.0
The Coronavirus pandemic is one of the main factors driving the customers to shop online. The convenience, lockdowns, and safety measures make online platforms a necessity for items including pet products. Last month I placed an order for the Okokat cat litter. However, when I opened the box, a saw dust cloud covered the whole area and it made me cough.

UK — Retailers Pay More Taxes Than Amazon
The recent controversy concerning Amazon’s UK business tax rate has been quite a big buzz in the corporate world. Amazon has been one of the most successful and popular online retail sites. Amazon has many branches in different countries around the world, and they have been doing quite well financially.

Rolls-Royce Announce Short Shutdown in Response to Impact of COVID19
Rolls-Royce is planning to briefly shutter their jet engine plants for two weeks this summer in order to save money, representing the first time it has been pushed into such a dramatic decision since it became a public corporation in the 1980s due to the impact in the industry over Covid-19.

Dogecoin Crypto Benefited by CEO of Tesla Motors
After the CEO of Tesla Motors tweeted about Dogecoin, the price of Dogecoin skyrocketed once more. Dogecoin has a unique history, having been created as an internet-based money transfer system between two people in the United States – one from England and one from Canada.

Belarus Forum — Belarusian People’s Assembly
The Investigative Committee of Belarus formally sent the documentation for the extradition of the founder of the Telegram channel NEXTA Stepan Putilo and his former editor-in-chief Roman Protasevich from Poland under the International treaty. The Belarusian KGB previously included these individuals on the terrorist list.

WTO — Nigeria’s Okonjo-Iweala Set to be the First Woman to Lead
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is all set to be the new director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This is after she received the support of the United States, which had initially thrown it’s support behind the South Korean candidate who however finally officially withdrew her candidature on Friday.

Amazon’s Fleet of Green Vehicles
The Global E-Commerce Giant, Amazon Inc has revealed that it has ordered hundreds of trucks that run on compressed natural gas as it tests ways to remove the largest polluting vehicles in its US fleet. Amazon has since began acquiring fleets of electric vehicles to reduce pollution by generally cutting on their carbon emissions.

US Market on the Rise
The S&P 500 index rose 15.10 points, or 0.39%, to 3,886.81 points; the Nasdaq index rose 78.60 points, or 0.57%, to 13,856.30 points; the Dow Jones index rose 92.40 points, or 0.30%, to 31,148.24 points; on this week’s road. The index rose 3.9%, the S&P rose 4.7%, and the Nasdaq rose 6%, both their biggest weekly gains since November.

GameStop Is Back in the Game
GameStop is back in the game. This Friday, its shares soared 19% after the Robinhood platform lifted restrictions on its marketing. After climbing about 80%, the company cut earnings and its stock closed at a price of $ 63.77, according to data from Investing.com.

Russia Boots Three Diplomats
The Kremlin announced that three diplomats were ordered to leave Russia on February 5th after participating in protest. The diplomats expelled are from the Kingdom of Sweden, Republic of Poland and Germany. That was the date, when Alexei Navalny and his team urged the public to take to the Russian streets and protest.