Editor’s Note: This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policy . CNN — When Nisar Ahmad Wani succeeded in carrying out the world’s first camel cloning in 2009 , it was hailed as a great achievement. Today, Wani is scientific director at the Reproductive Biotechnology Centre, in Dubai, and the practice is so popular that cloning has become his nine-to-five job. Wani and his team research and develop new cloning techniques and maintain cell banks, allowing them to make copies of animals including buffalo and sheep. But the center’s focus is on cloning camels. Each year, it produces dozens of cloned dromedary camel calves. Among the most popular are copies of camel “beauty queens,” with the right combination of drooping lips and long necks. Replicating beauties Camel beauty pageants are popular in the Gulf states and prize money runs into the tens of mil-lions of dollars at some events. Owners have been disqualified in the past for using banned tech-niques such as injecting camels with silicone and fillers, and inflating […]

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Dan Arens In the early years of the technology era, computers were feared by many in the workforce. In retrospect, computers did eliminate many jobs, but for each job they eliminated, more than five were created in the technology industry. They also changed the world. As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more common in the world of today, the adversity it generates today could be turned into an advantage tomorrow. The artificial intelligence platform ChatGPT was launched on Nov. 30, 2022 as a free application on the OpenAI website. That launch created a tsunami of criticism, as many students used it for answering take home tests and provided assistance in writing essays. Many school districts across the country banned the use of ChatGPT in their classrooms. In fact, in the early days of artificial intelligence, the Associated Press reported, “The new Text Classifier launched by OpenAI follows a weeks long discussion at schools and colleges over fears that ChatGPT’s ability to write just about anything on command could fuel academic dishonesty and hinder learning.” In response to comments like that, OpenAI, the developer of ChatGPT, replied that their product was not foolproof. Jan Leike, head of OpenAi’s alignment team said […]

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Voters in College Park, Md., in November. There are still some things to review about the midterm elections. T.J. Kirkpatrick for The New York Times We’ve gotten a lot of great questions and feedback over the last few months, and I think we’re inclined to make a mailbag a regular feature, especially during the off-season. If you have a question, send it to dear.upshot@nytimes.com. Bots in polling Let’s start with a question on an issue that I’d already been mulling: Mr. Cohn, you mentioned “bots” in passing as a potential issue for nonprobability polls. Which makes me wonder, how easy/hard would it be for a malign outside actor to interfere in the polling and make Donald Trump’s chances look better than they are? Because if that would be possible, I’d say countries with an interest in a divided U.S. (Russia and China come to mind) would certainly be tempted to pull that off. — Moritz, Vienna This is a serious question. A Pew Research study a few years ago used a few simple techniques to find that 4 percent to 7 percent of respondents to nonprobability surveys were “ bogus ,” to use their term. These “bogus” respondents took […]

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Fitch Ratings-Milan-01 March 2023: Nexi S.p.A.’s (BB/Stable) acquisition of Banco de Sabadell, S.A.’s (BBB-/Stable) merchant acquiring business is strategically sound and neutral to the rating, Fitch Ratings says. The target operations engage in Nexi’s core business. The acquisition, expected to close by 4Q23, will be funded by cash on balance sheet and will not affect Nexi’s gross leverage profile. A successful integration could lead to a minor de-leveraging, led by EBITDA margin accretions. The funding of the acquisition, by cash on balance sheet, will not significantly affect Nexi’s financial risk profile. Fitch’s sensitivities for Nexi are based on gross leverage and gross debt coverage metrics. They will therefore not be altered by the deal, while Nexi’s liquidity remains adequate for the rating. Nexi will acquire 80% of the business on a debt-free basis for EUR280 million. This is equivalent to 11.5x company-calculated expected 2023 EBITDA. The remaining 20% will be subject to a deferred sum. High growth prospects in Spain for merchant acquiring could increase Nexi’s profitability over the next 12 to 18 months, mildly improving leverage. However, this remains an upside to our base case forecasts, due to integration risks. This applies in particular to Spain, where the […]

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Sign up for The Brief , The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. The nonprofit publication Capital & Main produced this article . It is co-published with permission. Texas lawmakers are facing pressure to come up with a replacement for Chapter 313, a recently expired program that helped oil and gas companies, chip manufacturers and other industries secure billions in tax abatements through local school districts. Nearly 200 representatives of trade organizations, economic development councils and chambers of commerce are included among the signatories of a Feb. 14 letter to the Legislature calling for “a new, transparent, and accountable economic development policy.” The signatories warned that Texas could lose business if legislators don’t hurry up and create a new tax break program. “Over the last year, Texas lost several multibillion-dollar deals, including Rivian to Georgia, Intel to Ohio, and Micron to New York,” the letter says. “Texas stands to lose more jobs, more investments, more tax base and more growth if we don’t restock our economic development toolbox with a new economic development incentive this legislative session.” Two days later, Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his State of the State […]

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Co-founder and CEO of ZeroEyes with a decade in the U.S. Navy, including six years as a Navy SEAL. getty Seemingly small or mundane operational decisions can make or break a new business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 20% of new businesses fail during their first two years and a full 45% fail within a half-decade. Many factors play a role in determining a company’s success or failure, including the quality of its offering, the strength of its business model and revenue streams, and its general market competition. However, perhaps the most crucial aspect is the company’s management and leadership team. Strong leaders will set a clear vision for the company, inspire and motivate employees, make difficult decisions when necessary, and effectively manage and allocate resources. However, the strongest leaders of all are those who understand that one leader is not enough. Taking Inspiration From Military Tactics The military, like private enterprise, often has to do more with less. On my second deployment in Afghanistan as a Navy SEAL, I was the only American working with a NATO country Special Forces team. Since I did not have the ability to put 20 SEALs on the battlefield to manage […]

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getty Years ago, I heard a saying that stuck with me: American companies think about the next quarter. Worldwide companies think about the next quarter-century. It’s not wrong. Consistently and repeatedly, the companies that succeed over the long haul are the ones that aren’t planning for next week, but for the next decade. But how do they do it? Do they have a crystal ball? Can they just see directly into the future? And if so, why aren’t they winning the lottery week after week, or at least letting us know when being a long-suffering Mets fan will finally pay off? Here are five ways business leaders like myself prepare for the future today. Be willing to constantly learn from outside your echo chambers. It’s easy to get used to reading, watching and absorbing the same information. The problem is when you do that, you only learn the same things. Expand your mind. Read things you’ve never heard of before. Subscribe to magazines, podcasts and video channels that have absolutely nothing to do with what you do or what you know. You’d be amazed at the lessons you can learn and how you can apply them to your business. […]

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getty Are you looking to grow your business or scale it? In order to highlight the difference, an article by Harvard Business Review highlights the main difference: "Growth means adding revenue at the same pace you are adding resources; scaling means adding revenue at a much greater rate than cost." These days, it’s not easy to be an entrepreneur. So if you don’t want to become a statistic, ensure that you tap into these 10 ways to scale your business: 1. Create and follow a plan. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. The most successful businesses have a vision for growth and then reverse engineer the steps required to achieve each goal as part of their planning process. And then—most importantly—they follow their plan. All too often, companies set goals at the beginning of the year, getting people excited and pumped up. But by March, hardly anyone is following a cohesive plan. Building various lengths of objectives will help keep you focused and aligned. MORE FOR YOU Why The Rock’s Social Media Muscle Made Him Hollywood’s Highest-Paid Actor 5 Ways To Keep Your Business Five Years Ahead 2023 Innovation Trends: Go-To-Market Strategy, Product Governance And The […]

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Jeff and Randy run a T-shirt store and community destination that shows off their St. Louis pride. Jeff and Randy Vines are 44-year-old identical twins. They’re also the creators and co-owners of STL-Style , a St. Louis apparel store that has become a destination for locals and tourists alike. STL-Style has been in its Cherokee Street storefront since 2010, with no plans to expand into a bigger location — even though the business has annual sales of just over $1 million. Here’s how the Vines brothers turned a love for their hometown into a thriving small business, creating not only T-shirts, but also a gathering space for St. Louis residents. Randy: From an early age, we were always obsessed with our city, St. Louis. We wanted to show it off and represent it in a way that was cool and stylish and honest. When we first started toying around with the idea of T-shirts, circa 2000, it was because there wasn’t any St. Louis apparel out there that we wanted to wear. It was all embarrassing touristy stuff, back then. We started cranking out designs that we came up with; we got the help of one of our graphic […]

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Chief of Client Success at DIVISA , helping fashion businesses implement digital strategies that will drive growth and scale revenue. getty Working with hundreds of fashion brands has given me insight into what separates successful companies from those that struggle. Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to establishing and keeping your positioning in the market, I’ve found that most successful brands consistently focus on certain strategies. By staying on top of these key areas, you can ensure that your fashion brand gains and maintains a competitive advantage in the market. 1. Strengthen Your Brand Value It is more crucial than ever to strengthen your brand value. The concept is simple: Having a strong brand value makes it easier for you to differentiate yourself from competitors. When your brand stands out, you can avoid competing based on price and open the door for additional marketing strategies that target customers with something unique. Building a genuine brand identity helps ensure that you will catch the attention of consumers and create emotional connections with them. To achieve this, focus on crafting an authentic message that reflects who you are as a company. Define clear ideas and stories that promote what makes your […]

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