PATRICK BLOG NEWS

FALMOUTH, Trelwany — Restaurants of Jamaica (ROJ) opened its 36th KFC restaurant in Jamaica yesterday and disclosed that an additional three are to be opened on the island next year as part of the company's thrust to expand business and create more employment. “We are not slowing down,” ROJ Managing Director Mark Myers said at the official opening of the restaurant in Champion Plaza, Falmouth. He later told the  Jamaica Observer  that his company expects to open two outlets in the Corporate Area — Harbour View and Mountain View — by March, and another in May Pen, Clarendon, later in the year. Yesterday, he told the gathering in Falmouth that the latest store, which employs over 50 people from surrounding communities, represents an investment of over $200 million. “ROJ now employs more than 2,000 staff across the group and provides opportunities in other sectors with the creation of each new store,” Myers said, adding “KFC uses local distributors and supports l...

Climate Change After two weeks of crunch negotiations – with overtime – the almost 200 parties gathered in Katowice, Poland, for the United Nations  COP24  two-week climate change conference,  adopted  on Saturday a “robust” set of implementing guidelines for the landmark 2015  Paris Agreement , aimed at keeping global warming well below 2°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Following several sleepless nights, cheers and applause welcomed the  COP24 President, Michal Kurtyka, as he opened the conference’s closing plenary meeting, which had been postponed close to a dozen times. He thanked the hundreds of delegates in the room for their “patience”, noting that the last night “was a long night”. General laughter followed when the room’s big screens showed a delegate yawning whole-heartedly. “Katowice has shown once more the resilience of the  Paris Agreement  – our solid roadmap for climate action,” said Patricia Espinosa, who heads ...

ndian meat and seafood market valued at approximately $40 billion currently is highly underserved. As food safety and quality continue to serve as massive concern points, the category-first brand backed by technology, Licious is standing on the forefront to solve the existing customer pain points of hygiene, freshness and convenience in a sustainable manner. Claimed to be India’s leading fresh meat and seafood brand, Licious has vouched for their philosophy of clean food over the years, which has now worked in their favour as Japan’s largest public listed conglomerate Nichirei Corp has decided to invest in the startup. In a recent Series D funding round, the Bengaluru-based started raised $25 million. The funding round led by Nichirei Corp along with the existing investors 3one4 Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, UCLA and Sistema Asia Fund is targeted at further strengthening Licious’ dominant market presence. Built on the farm to f...

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Property will mark the first Andaz-branded hotel in Dubai and the second in the United Arab Emirates Hyatt Hotels Corporation   (NYSE: H ) today announced that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with wasl Asset Management Group, one of the largest real estate development and management companies in Dubai, for the development of an Andaz-branded hotel at La Mer—a vibrant lifestyle district in the coastal area of Jumeirah. Expected to open in 2020, the property will become the first Andaz-branded hotel in Dubai and the second Andaz hotel in the United Arab Emirates, joining Andaz Capital Gate Abu Dhabi (expected to open in Q4 2018). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:   https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181215005001/en/ Delivering thoughtful, unscripted service for curious-minded guests in search of inspiring local experiences, Andaz Dubai La Mer will offer distinct e...

Frequent sexual activity leads to greater enjoyment of life for men -- but not for women, a new study has found. For women, frequent kissing, petting, fondling, and feeling emotionally close to their partner was associated with higher enjoyment of life. In a study of almost 7,000 people ages 50-89 in England, researchers correlated self-reported sexual activity in the past year with greater enjoyment of life in men and women. Frequent sexual activity was defined by the study's authors as having sex more than twice per month, according to the study. The data was obtained from the English Longitudinal Study of Aging, an ongoing long-term study of the English population above 50. Researchers examined sexual activity as a modifiable target in overall well-being, which has in turn been correlated with positive  health  outcomes. “Previous research has suggested that frequent sexual intercourse is associated with a range of benefits for psychological and physiologic...

Osterhout Design Group (ODG) may be dead before mass shipping its R-9 augmented reality glasses, with an asset sale planned for January focused on the AR company’s patent portfolio. I left a voicemail on ODG’s listed phone line, sent an email, and spoke briefly on the phone with a representative of Hilco Streambank,  which describes the asset sale  for ODG in the following way: Hilco Streambank is seeking offers to acquire certain assets (collectively, the “Assets”) of Osterhout Group, Inc. (ODG). The Assets include an extensive patent portfolio covering mixed reality (augmented reality/virtual reality (“AR/VR”)) smart glasses technology, as well as other associated intangible and physical assets. A sale of the Assets will be conducted pursuant to Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code on January 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, by Hilco Streambank on behalf of JGB Collateral, LLC (“JGB”), as collateral agent for the secured lender. ODG was founded in 19...

Astronomers using NASA's Hubble telescope found an exoplanet that's evaporating, possibly holding clues into the discovery of rocky "super-Earths." Researchers at the University of Geneva Switzerland found the exoplanet GJ 3470b, which showed signs of losing hydrogen in its atmosphere, causing it to shrink. The study is part of  exploration  into "hot Neptunes," planets that are the size of Neptune, sit very close to their star, and have atmospheres as hot at 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, says NASA. Finding a "hot Neptune" is rare because they sit so close to their star and tend to evaporate more quickly. In the case of GJ 3470b, scientists classify it as a "warmer" Neptune because it sits farther away from its star.  The exoplanet discovered by astronauts is losing its atmosphere at a rate 100 times faster than a previous "warmer" Neptune planet discovered a few years before, according to a study published Thursday in th...