Compassion in action: 2,000 teddy bears for children in need
In a powerful display of community solidarity and compassion, the South African Red Cross Air Mercy Service (AMS) has received a donation of 2,000 teddy bears, thanks to a soft toy drive led by the Gordon's Bay Tourism Office in collaboration with the Gordon's Bay Business Association and the community of Gordons Bay. The initiative was part of the local celebrations for World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, observed annually on 8 May.
The international day commemorates the birth of Henry Dunant, the founder of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and honours the tireless work of humanitarian workers across the globe. This year's theme, 'Keeping Humanity Alive,' celebrates the spirit of humanitarianism while encouraging all to take meaningful action in their communities.
In the spirit of the day, donors collected and donated thousands of cuddly companions to bring comfort to children facing illness, trauma, or hardship in hospitals and at AMS bases.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
PAR Technology launches integrated platform for enterprise restaurants
Enterprise foodservice technology company PAR Technology has introduced PAR Engagement, a suite of products designed to enable enterprise restaurants to engage with guests and streamline operations. The platform integrates loyalty programmes, marketing, ordering and guest data into a single, cohesive system. PAR Engagement is modular, allowing restaurants to adopt individual components or opt for a comprehensive tech stack that amplifies their impact and strengthens system performance. The platform features AI-driven tools and cross-product integration, providing brands with the control, intelligence and speed necessary to maintain a competitive edge. PAR Engagement general manager Joe Yetter stated: "Digital engagement isn't new - most brands have done the basics, but today we're entering a more competitive and more challenging time than ever. PAR® Engagement is our new vision—doubling down on R&D [research and development] and innovation for what will drive the future of restaurant engagement and digital sales growth." 'Brands are craving revitalisation, and we're rolling out an aggressive roadmap filled with new products and features specifically designed to spark innovation and drive revenue growth.' The new platform eradicates data silos by combining marketing, loyalty and ordering systems into one integrated solution, unifying the digital guest journey. PAR Engagement is centred around PAR's unified product flywheel, which facilitates smarter engagement at every stage of customer interaction. PAR Ordering has been redeveloped to cater to enterprise needs, enabling restaurants to create customised ordering experiences across web, mobile and kiosk platforms. It supports complex menus, offers rapid deployments and features a conversion-optimised user experience for enhanced speed and flexibility. Punchh Loyalty, the industry benchmark for loyalty programmes, now offers greater adaptability with enhanced integrations into marketing, guest data and ordering. It includes new membership tier functionality and AI-driven rule activation to bolster enterprise-scale retention efforts. The guest data module consolidates identity and insights across both loyalty and non-loyalty customers, providing marketers with ways to recognise, personalise and engage across all marketing channels. The marketing and offers module, proven through Punchh, now extends personalised campaigns to all guests, not just loyalty members, to increase the reach and effectiveness of each offer. Supporting the flywheel are two additional layers: Accelerate, a suite of tools aimed at increasing check size, repeat visits and campaign return on investment, and Digital Experience, which brings a brand's presence to life across all guest touchpoints, from mobile apps to digital wallets. Later in 2025, brands will have access to AI-powered tools such as chatbots for data insights, personalised upselling and offers, and new app-less loyalty and payment features such as wallet passes, QR codes and auto-reloading gift cards. "PAR Technology launches integrated platform for enterprise restaurants" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
23 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Europe Builds AI Infrastructure With NVIDIA to Fuel Region's Next Industrial Transformation
Europe AI Infrastructure France, Italy and the United Kingdom Support Regional Technology and Cloud Providers Domyn, Mistral AI, Nebius and Nscale to Deploy More Than 3,000 Exaflops of NVIDIA Blackwell Systems for Sovereign AI NVIDIA to Build AI Factory in Germany to Accelerate Industrial Manufacturing Applications in Europe European Telcos Fastweb, Orange, Swisscom, Telefónica and Telenor Build AI Infrastructure With NVIDIA, Enabling Enterprises to Adopt and Build Agentic AI Applications European Enterprises, Startups and Public Sector to Harness Regional NVIDIA Infrastructure to Develop and Deploy Agentic and Physical AI NVIDIA Establishes AI Technology Centers Across Continent to Advance Research, Upskill Workforces and Accelerate Scientific Breakthroughs PARIS, June 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- —NVIDIA GTC Paris at VivaTech—NVIDIA today announced it is working with European nations, and technology and industry leaders, to build NVIDIA Blackwell AI infrastructure that will strengthen digital sovereignty, support economic growth and position the continent as a leader in the AI industrial revolution. France, Italy, Spain and the U.K. are among the nations building domestic AI infrastructure with an ecosystem of technology and cloud providers, including Domyn, Mistral AI, Nebius and Nscale, and telecommunications providers, including Orange, Swisscom, Telefónica and Telenor. These deployments will deliver more than 3,000 exaflops of NVIDIA Blackwell compute resources for sovereign AI, enabling European enterprises, startups and public sector organizations to securely develop, train and deploy agentic and physical AI applications. NVIDIA is establishing and expanding AI technology centers in Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and Finland. These centers build on NVIDIA's history of collaborating with academic institutions and industry through the NVIDIA AI Technology Center program and NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute to develop the AI workforce and scientific discovery throughout the regions. 'Every industrial revolution begins with infrastructure. AI is the essential infrastructure of our time, just as electricity and the internet once were,' said Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA. 'With bold leadership from Europe's governments and industries, AI will drive transformative innovation and prosperity for generations to come.' 'France is committed to investing in AI to strengthen our economy, benefit our citizens and uphold our values,' said Emmanuel Macron, president of the French Republic. 'By working closely with our nation's leading technology innovators and NVIDIA, we are equipping researchers, entrepreneurs and public institutions with the tools they need to explore new ideas, tackle complex challenges and help shape the future of AI for France.' 'Just as coal and electricity once defined our past, AI is defining our future,' said U.K. Tech Secretary Peter Kyle. 'NVIDIA's expansion of its technology center here in the U.K. will be vital in helping us to deliver on our AI ambitions, and their partnership in building the capabilities that will transform our AI Growth Zones into engines of opportunity. This is our Plan for Change in action, bringing together leading innovators to build the compute infrastructure that will drive growth across every region and secure the U.K.'s place as a global AI leader in the age of AI.' 'This agreement represents a strategic step toward strengthening Italy's technological sovereignty and ensuring that our businesses have secure and competitive access to data management,' said Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso. 'The collaboration with top-tier partners such as NVIDIA and Domyn confirms the government's commitment in supporting high-level alliances to foster innovation and the competitiveness of the national production system.' Building Europe's Foundation for AI Infrastructure and InnovationBuilding AI infrastructure requires strategic investment in advanced systems, land and facilities, sustainable energy access, skilled experts and partnerships. To accelerate the development of these national resources, NVIDIA is working with leaders across France, the U.K., Germany and Italy. In France, Mistral AI is working with NVIDIA to build an end-to-end cloud platform powered by 18,000 NVIDIA Grace Blackwell systems in the first phase, with plans to expand across multiple sites in 2026. This infrastructure will enable organizations across Europe to quickly develop and deploy AI using optimized Mistral AI models and validated AI factory designs, accelerating the adoption of agentic AI applications. In the U.K., NVIDIA is collaborating with NVIDIA Cloud Partners Nebius and Nscale to unlock advanced AI capabilities for enterprises and businesses of all sizes. At London Tech Week, the cloud providers announced the first phase of their AI infrastructure development plans to deploy 14,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs to power new data centers, making scalable, secure AI infrastructure widely accessible across the U.K. In Germany, NVIDIA and its partners are building the world's first industrial AI cloud for European manufacturers. This AI factory will be powered by NVIDIA DGX™ B200 systems and NVIDIA RTX PRO™ Servers featuring 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell GPUs to enable Europe's industrial leaders to accelerate every manufacturing application, from design, engineering and simulation to factory digital twins and robotics. In Italy, NVIDIA is working with Domyn and the government to advance the nation's sovereign AI capabilities. Domyn is developing its Domyn Large Colosseum reasoning model on its supercomputer, Colosseum, with NVIDIA Grace Blackwell Superchips, in alignment with its mission to support regulated industries in adopting AI. European Telcos Build AI Infrastructure With NVIDIA for Regional EnterprisesNVIDIA is also working with leading European telecommunications providers — including Orange, Fastweb, Swisscom, Telefónica and Telenor — to develop secure, scalable sovereign AI infrastructure across the region. Orange is accelerating the development of enterprise-grade AI, including agentic AI, large language models and personal AI assistants, using Orange Business' Cloud Avenue, built on high-performance NVIDIA infrastructure. Fastweb introduced MIIA — an Italian language model to support generative AI applications — trained and running on its NVIDIA DGX AI supercomputer. Telenor is expanding its sovereign AI infrastructure in Norway with a new, renewable-powered data center, in addition to hosting a partner's multilingual AI translation service, available in over 100 languages. Swisscom is launching new AI services, including GenAI Studio and AI Workhub hosted on its sovereign AI NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD™-based infrastructure, empowering Swiss enterprises to rapidly build and scale AI applications. Telefónica is piloting a distributed edge AI fabric across Spain with hundreds of NVIDIA GPUs to deliver low-latency, privacy-focused AI services. These collaborations enable enterprises to develop and deploy customized AI models and agentic applications at scale, tapping into telcos' extensive networks and trusted role as critical infrastructure providers. NVIDIA AI Technology Centers Fuel Research, Upskilling and Scientific ProgressNVIDIA is establishing and expanding technology centers in Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, the U.K. and Finland to accelerate AI skills development, research and infrastructure for the continent's enterprises and startups. The Bavarian AI center in Germany, intended to be established in collaboration with the Bayern KI consortium, will advance research in fields including digital medicine, stable diffusion AI and open-source robotics platforms to foster global collaboration. The Sweden AI center will advance world-class AI research with support from NVIDIA experts and hands-on NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute training to help with upskilling. The Italy AI center will expand to include new AI factory deployments with the CINECA consortium. The Spain AI center will expand to include a new AI factory with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The U.K. AI center will accelerate the U.K.'s most groundbreaking research in embodied AI, materials science and Earth systems modeling. The Finland AI center enables researchers to accelerate AI research and applications for computer vision, machine learning and AI for science. These strategic initiatives across Europe build on NVIDIA investments in building AI infrastructure worldwide, including in Taiwan and the Middle East. Watch the NVIDIA GTC Paris keynote from Huang at VivaTech, and explore GTC Paris sessions. About NVIDIANVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) is the world leader in accelerated computing. For further information, contact: Corporate CommunicationsNVIDIA Corporationpress@ Certain statements in this press release including, but not limited to, statements as to: with bold leadership from Europe's governments and industries, AI driving transformative innovation and prosperity for generations to come; technology development in European nations; the benefits, impact, performance, and availability of NVIDIA's products, services, and technologies; expectations with respect to NVIDIA's third party arrangements, including with its collaborators and partners; expectations with respect to technology developments; and other statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which are subject to the 'safe harbor' created by those sections based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different than expectations. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: global economic and political conditions; NVIDIA's reliance on third parties to manufacture, assemble, package and test NVIDIA's products; the impact of technological development and competition; development of new products and technologies or enhancements to NVIDIA's existing product and technologies; market acceptance of NVIDIA's products or NVIDIA's partners' products; design, manufacturing or software defects; changes in consumer preferences or demands; changes in industry standards and interfaces; unexpected loss of performance of NVIDIA's products or technologies when integrated into systems; and changes in applicable laws and regulations, as well as other factors detailed from time to time in the most recent reports NVIDIA files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, including, but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. Copies of reports filed with the SEC are posted on the company's website and are available from NVIDIA without charge. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, NVIDIA disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances. © 2025 NVIDIA Corporation. All rights reserved. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, DGX, NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD and NVIDIA RTX PRO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Features, pricing, availability and specifications are subject to change without notice. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
Business Insider
23 minutes ago
- Business Insider
A YouTuber created a $75 grill scrubber to experience the challenges of making stuff in the US — and it sold out
A really nice grill brush will cost you about $25 at your local big box store, but YouTuber Dustin Sandlin is betting he can get customers to shell out three times that amount for a Made-in-America version. Sandlin traces his passion for US manufacturing to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when he was bothered by the lack of American-made essential goods. "Everybody wanted N95 masks and face shields, and they couldn't get it," he said in a recent YouTube video. "This revealed to me how anemic our manufacturing capacity in America has become, because I was waiting on some billionaire to come save us, and it didn't happen." So began a yearslong deep dive into the challenges of making products in the US, which Sandlin documented for his series on YouTube called "Smarter Every Day." After working with John Youngblood, the owner of a local specialty grill accessories company, Sandlin got excited about the idea of developing a better scrubber. Sandlin and Youngblood wanted to produce it in the US with as many domestically sourced components as possible, and sell it at a retail price. In a video that went live Sunday and has since amassed more than 2 million views, Sandlin shares why he decided to get serious about US manufacturing, explains how he navigated the design process, and makes a sales pitch for viewers to buy it for themselves. On Tuesday, Youngblood told Business Insider the $75 scrubber has sold through its initial production run of several thousand units within a day, and his company is now taking pre-orders. "We're going to have a backlog for a while," Youngblood said. Most grill brushes are meant to be thrown away. This one isn't. Many lower-cost grill brushes aren't typically designed to last more than a year of use — grill-maker Weber recommends changing them after each grilling season. Another problem is that the bristles have been known to come off and can end up in grilled food. Sandlin and Youngblood found that welded chain mail — like the material of a medieval knight's armor — was highly effective at cleaning grill grates without breaking. There was one problem: "We could only find it in China." After a few tries, the team managed to find a US supplier who could make about 2,000 units a month and a supplier in India to augment the rest. Attaching the chain mail to a handle proved to be another adventure. Sandlin said the average one-inch industrial bolt costs around 9 cents when imported, but that jumps to 38 cents for versions made in the US. "Most machine shops I talked to directly, they said, 'Yeah, we can't even get the material for the price of the finished bolts that you're getting from a foreign supplier,'" Sandlin said. Then there was the process of making injection-molded parts to provide support and flexibility, which required machining custom tools and dies (the metal forms that shape a material) for shops to use in production. "This is the moment where this whole experiment came into focus for me," Sandlin said. "I realized at that moment we're screwed." American manufacturing has exported the smart part of making stuff The reason for Sandlin's pessimism is that many of the shops he spoke with send tool and die design files to China to be made and imported for use in US production lines. "I don't want my intellectual property in China, I want to make it here," he said. "And they said, 'Good luck.'" The problem illuminated by this episode goes far beyond a seemingly simple grilling accessory. "We're screwed as a nation if we can't do the intelligent work of tool and die: making the tools that make the things," Sandlin said. "We have flipped it. We are now to the point where the smart stuff is done somewhere else." Sandlin and Youngblood eventually found US suppliers for all of their custom components. They're working to get every piece sourced here. The video shows two instances where Sandlin was surprised by the apparent country of origin being different from what he says he was led to believe: The first batch of knobs arrived in packaging stating they were made in Costa Rica rather than the US. Several boxes of chain mail (ostensibly from India) had markings that suggested they were instead from China. "I'm shocked," Sandlin said. "It's pretty weird to set out to try to make a thing completely in America and to find out towards the end of the process that you made something in China anyways." Sandlin says he's not interested in having America be the dominant world player — he wants more opportunities for people here to have good jobs that allow them to take care of their communities. "If you are ever, ever in a position to make a decision about where your thing is manufactured, take a second and consider making a little less profit, maybe in order to invest in your local community," he said.
