Latest news with #Skai
Time of India
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Greece to toughen migration laws: Minister
Representative AI image Greece plans to eliminate a provision allowing irregular migrants to apply for residency after seven years in the country, the migration minister announced Thursday, saying the rule had been abused. Makis Voridis said he is scrapping an existing provision that enables irregular migrants to apply for a residence permit after seven years in the country in a toughening of migration laws. "The longer you were (in the country) illegally, the bigger your prize. "From now on, whoever is in Greece illegally will never be legalised, will never get a residence permit," he said, pointing out that some 55-65,000 people enter Greece illegally every year, with half granted asylum. The police last year arrested 74,000 irregular migrants, but could only expel 2,500, he told broadcaster Skai. Detainees often claim a false country of origin to avoid deportation, stalling the process for months, Voridis said. "There must be (sanctions) for those who persist in staying even though they are not legally here," he said. The new draft law, approved by the cabinet on Wednesday, carries a prison sentence of up to five years for illegal entry and residence, he said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo The draft's parliamentary passage, slated for June, is essentially assured with the government enjoying a majority. Administrative detention prior to deportation will be extended to a maximum two years, up from a maximum 18 months currently, he said. Irregular migrants can choose voluntary repatriation to avoid any sanctions, he said. Voridis said new regulations to encourage legal migration will be presented by July. According to Bank of Greece governor Yiannis Stournaras, the country is short of around 200,000 labourers.
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
After Halle Bailey, Skai Jackson files for restraining order against son's father after chilling abuse allegations
Skai Jackson, who once ruled Disney Channel with sass and sparkle, is now making headlines for a far darker reason, and this time, it is real life, not a scripted drama. The 23-year-old actress has filed a restraining order against Deondre Burgin, the father of her newborn son Kasai, alleging terrifying instances of domestic abuse. And if you thought this was a one-time blow-up, buckle up, because the details are stomach-turning. This comes after Halle Bailey also filed for a restraining order against her ex boyfriend and YouTuber DDG for domestic violence. While some are supporting both the women, many ex-users slam them for choosing such guys and saying they "just want sympathy." No shade but for me it's hard to feel sympathy for Skai Jackson or Halle Bailey when they're actively choosing GHETTO MEN- keep the legs closed and find yourself a real men not these musty boys What is up with Skai and her son's father? According to legal documents filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, Jackson claims that on Mother's Day, yes, Mother's Day, Burgin allegedly assaulted her while she was holding their baby. He reportedly grabbed her by the hair, slammed her head against a car window, and punched her in the face. If that was not enough, she says this is just one horrific chapter in a longer story. Skai Jackson filed a restraining order against the father of her baby after he allegedly assaulted her on Mother's Day. He allegedly grabbed Skai by her hair while she was holding their baby, slammed her head against a car window and punched her in the face. (TMZ) The actress detailed an alleged six-month stretch where physical abuse was a weekly routine. Burgin is accused of choking her, scratching her, and bashing her head into walls. She also claims he shattered her phone, wrecked her television, and showed no signs of slowing down. Burgin asked Skai to drink bleach when she was pregnant And then came the most gut-wrenching claim of them all: Skai says that while she was pregnant, Burgin allegedly told her to drink bleach to kill their unborn child. She also alleges that he held her at knifepoint and threatened to stab her in the stomach if she dared scream for help. One incident, which she reportedly has on video, allegedly shows Burgin punching through a bathroom door, slamming her into a wall, and choking her until she could not breathe. A source close to Jackson confirmed that her legal move was entirely about safety, for both her and her baby. The insider revealed that Jackson wanted to take 'all necessary steps' to protect her family from any more trauma. The restraining order request The restraining order request comes just months after Jackson revealed she had welcomed a baby in January, sharing a soft, intimate photo of Kasai's tiny hands. She even said in February that motherhood had been 'so positive' during her first red carpet appearance post-baby. But behind that glowing exterior was a young mum fighting for her life. And now, she is done being silent.
AsiaOne
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- AsiaOne
What to do this weekend (May 2 to 4), Lifestyle News
Ready for the weekend? Here's what you can look forward to this week. 1. Singapore HeritageFest 2025 [embed] Explore Singapore's living heritage at the 22nd edition of Singapore HeritageFest, Singapore's longest-running celebration of our shared cultural identity. This year, the festival spotlights our Intangible Cultural Heritage, or living heritage - the rich customs, traditions, practices, and stories that connect us across generations. You're invited to experience, learn about, and celebrate these irreplaceable cultural expressions through engaging tours, interactive workshops, fascinating exhibitions, and dynamic performances across the island. Till May 25 2025 Find out more here 2. European Film Festival 2025 [embed] Head to the movies with the return of the European Film Festival from now till May 24. This annual festival showcases a curated selection of foreign films from the best of contemporary cinema across the EU, from documentaries to cartoons, dramas, slice-of-life stories, and more. Till May 24 2025 Find out more here 3. Curious Worlds Journey into the neuroscience of the human experience with the ArtScience Museum's newest programme. Organised as a micro-festival accompanying "Mirror Mirror: Journey into the Mind" and "Iris van Herpen: Sculpting the Senses", Curious Worlds draws from the topics and themes explored in both exhibitions to showcase the work of neuroscience researchers, modern naturalists, and even fashion designers and technologists who are innovating for a more inclusive and accessible future. You can look forward to thought-provoking exhibits, insightful talks, pop-up conversations, workshops, performances, demonstrations and naturalist tours across three thematic tracks - neuroscience and neuropsychology, adaptive fashion and assistive tech, and natural history and biodiversity. [embed] Till May 25 2025 Find out more here 4. Peter Rabbit High Tea Step into the world of the classic children's story The Tale of Peter Rabbit with a whimsical high tea experience by Skai. Inspired by the adventures of Peter Rabbit and the rustic beauty of Mr. McGregor's garden, the menu features a delightful medley of sweet and savoury creations, thoughtfully crafted to capture the nostalgia and magic of Beatrix Potter's timeless tale. [[nid:699610]] Feast on savoury delights like the Mr McGregor's Garden Sandwich with beef brisket and miso on seeded bread and The Forbidden Orchard Tartlet, which combines foie gras with apple. Then, nibble on sweet treats such as Flopsy's Berry Basket, which offers a waffle cup filled with blueberries, and Peter's Garden Pot, which creates an edible chocolate garden with gelato and citrus. You can also pair your meal with a floral mocktail like Flopsy's Blossom Fizz, or upgrade to the Mischief in the Garden cocktail, which blends vodka, carrot juice, and honey ginger syrup. Till June 30 2025 Find out more here This article was first published in Wonderwall .sg .
Forbes
24-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How AI Can Solve Retail Media's Growing Pains
Retail media has emerged as one of the fastest-growing advertising channels in recent years, but new data suggests that this growth is beginning to slow. According to the IAB's 2025 State Of Data Report, while retail media is projected to grow by 15.6% in 2025, this represents a significant deceleration from the 25.1% growth seen in 2024—a drop of nearly 10 percentage points year-over-year. This slowdown comes at a critical moment for the retail media ecosystem. Despite continuing to outpace overall advertising growth (projected at 7.3% for 2025), retail media networks face mounting challenges that threaten their momentum. As brands demand greater standardization, more sophisticated measurement capabilities, and better cross-platform integration, artificial intelligence has emerged as perhaps the most promising solution to these growing pains. But implementation won't necessarily be easy. The IAB data confirms what many industry insiders have been observing: retail media is entering a more mature phase where growth is becoming harder to sustain. This isn't surprising given the channel's explosive expansion over the past five years, with hundreds of retail media networks now competing for advertiser budgets. Several factors are contributing to this deceleration: As a result, while advertisers still value retail media's proximity to the point of purchase and its closed-loop measurement capabilities, many are becoming more selective about where they allocate their retail media dollars. The IAB's State of Data 2025 report offers a potential path forward through artificial intelligence. According to the report, 80% of buyers are already using or exploring generative AI tools for media planning and activation, with agencies leading adoption at 83% compared to brands at 71%. For retail media specifically, AI applications are being deployed across the entire campaign lifecycle to address key pain points: The IAB identifies AI-driven scenario planning as a key opportunity for brands and agencies. Using AI, buyers can simulate different budget allocations across retail media networks and forecast outcomes before launch. This helps optimize spending across the fragmented ecosystem by identifying which networks deliver the best performance for specific campaign objectives. Alex Arnott, a Director at NewStream Media, which consults with retailers on their media offering, says that the industry is in the early stages of understanding how AI can be wielded to automate and augment retail media strategy. He calls out buy-side ad buying platforms like Skai and Xnurta which are now utilizing AI to derive omnichannel insights and automate the development of omnichannel media plans. For activation, the IAB recommends AI-powered automation that dynamically adjusts bid strategies, pacing, and creative rotation across multiple retail media networks in real time. The IAB's State of Data 2025 report highlights how AI can enable "AI-Driven Campaign Orchestration & Content Optimization," allowing brands to "leverage AI tools to coordinate and launch campaigns across paid, owned, and earned channels" while monitoring "real-time performance and automatically adjust tactics" to improve results. Vince Crimaldi, EVP, Retail Market Unit Leader at Capgemini says that AI algorithms can analyze real-time sales data within a specific network to automatically shift budget towards higher-converting products or ad placements. Perhaps most importantly, AI is helping address the measurement challenges that have plagued retail media since its inception. The IAB highlights advanced measurement frameworks that integrate multi-touch attribution (MTA) and market mix modeling (MMM) to provide a holistic view of performance across channels. One of the IAB's recommendations is that brands should "integrate Market Mix Modeling (MMM) with multi-touch attribution, adapting to client-specific data and KPIs. Leverage synthetic or proxy data to fill measurement gaps while maintaining privacy compliance." Capgemini's Vince Crimaldi agrees that successfully integrating AI will be key not just for sustaining growth, but for proving the long-term ROI that brands increasingly demand. 'Ultimately this will impact retailer revenue and ad tech valuations,' he says. One of the most early to market and easily adopted use cases for AI is in developing written, visual, and video creative for advertising. New Stream Media's Alex Arnott says that many Retail Media Networks are utilizing GenAI to provide brands with a self-service creative offering. This allows brands to quickly and efficiently develop their own creative assets and or AI-powered landing pages (as opposed to incurring added creative production fees for the RMN to develop). 'RMN ad platforms are also jumping on the bandwagon as they are building out-of-the-box GenAI creative functionality into their platforms to incentivize long-tail brand investment,' Arnott says. This capability is particularly powerful when integrated with the automated campaign optimization strategies discussed earlier, creating a more responsive and intelligent advertising ecosystem. While AI holds promise, retail media faces distinct hurdles that make implementation more difficult than in other digital advertising channels: Technical Fragmentation Challenges: Unlike other digital advertising channels, retail media suffers from a fundamental infrastructure problem. Each retailer maintains a unique data ecosystem with different taxonomies and measurement standards, creating significant barriers to cross-network AI implementation. While large players like Amazon offer robust APIs, many smaller networks lack the technical infrastructure needed for comprehensive AI-driven optimization. This fragmentation makes it extremely difficult to develop AI models that can provide meaningful insights across multiple retail media platforms. Clean, organized datasets: Neal Sheridan, an RMN expert who has held leadership roles at Macy's and Belk's RMNs, says that access to first-party data can enhance personalized advertising and targeting, but AI's effectiveness hinges on clean, organized datasets. Retailers often struggle with data silos, inconsistent quality, and integration issues, Sheridan says, which complicate accurate analysis in addition to concerns around consumer privacy. 'Companies must also invest in robust technology infrastructure and rethink how they measure campaign effectiveness,' Sheridan says. Data Privacy and Competitive Concerns: Retailers face a critical challenge: balancing data privacy with AI's need for comprehensive insights. The segregated nature of retail media's data environments creates a paradox where protecting shopper information limits AI's potential. As Sheridan notes, "collaboration among stakeholders becomes essential for effective data sharing while maintaining consumer trust." For retail media networks to maintain their growth trajectory while addressing these challenges, several priorities emerge: Embrace Standardization Where Possible: While full integration across networks remains challenging, retail media players must invest in baseline measurement standards and technical capabilities that sophisticated CPGs now demand. Ram Krishnan, PepsiCo CEO of North America beverages, said last year that in order to continue winning the CPG giant's ad business, retail media networks must "meet a certain threshold at other media bought, like the media that we do with Meta or Google." PepsiCo evaluates networks based on several factors including targeting capabilities, measurement clarity, creative flexibility, and interestingly – API availability. His statement that "not all retailers should be media companies" underscores the reality that smaller networks must make significant infrastructure investments to remain competitive. Establish Core Data Infrastructure: Before introducing buzzy bells and whistles that get media attention, retailers need a solid data infrastructure. Lori Johnshoy, Head of Global Retail, Media Network and CPG Industry Strategy at LiveRamp, agrees with the IAB's highlight on fragmented data ecosystems, which she says can limit AI's effectiveness. Johnshoy, who formerly helped to launch Target's Roundel media platform, says that this is why businesses need a trusted data collaboration partner — one who can help establish a cohesive data framework, bringing all data points into a single, accessible location. 'Doing so enables businesses to unlock the full potential of their AI investments, which are becoming increasingly essential in today's competitive retail media network landscape where demonstrating performance is crucial," she says. Explore Real-Time Bidding (RTB): RTB represents a promising technical solution to address fragmentation challenges while meeting brands' increasing performance demands. As I explored in my recent post for Forbes, RTB enables automated, impression-level bidding across multiple networks while providing a standardized flow of event-level data. While full RTB integration faces challenges from retailers' walled gardens, even partial implementation could help address rising costs through more efficient allocation and provide the technical infrastructure needed for true cross-channel AI applications. Improving ad relevancy. Beyond automation and measurement, serving highly relevant ads remains the single most important success factor for retail media. Andreas Reiffen, CEO of ad server tech company Pentaleap, says that sponsored Products account for roughly 80% of retail media revenues, but that CTRs (Click Through Rates) for these ad types can be just a third those of organic product results. This means retailers aren't currently delivering relevant search ads to consumers, limiting scale for the retailer and ad inventory for brands. With more relevant paid and organic search results, the Home Depot is able to surface 25 Sponsored Products per page, while many others show fewer than five. (Note, Pentaleap is a client of mine.) As retail media's rapid growth begins to decelerate, artificial intelligence emerges not as a silver bullet, but as a strategic tool to address the industry's most pressing challenges. From fragmented ecosystems and measurement difficulties to rising costs and integration complexities, AI offers targeted solutions that can help retail media networks remain competitive. However, successful implementation requires more than technological enthusiasm. It demands a pragmatic approach that acknowledges the sector's unique obstacles: limited data standardization, privacy concerns, and the need for robust technical infrastructure. The networks that will thrive are those that view AI as a strategic capability to be carefully developed, not a quick fix to be rashly deployed. The future of retail media belongs to those who can balance technological innovation with a deep understanding of advertiser needs—using AI to create more relevant, measurable, and efficient advertising experiences that deliver genuine value to brands and consumers alike.
Straits Times
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Arts Picks: Teroka Raya festivities, Peter Rabbit high tea and Ang Ah Tee show
Storyteller Hafiz Rashid will narrate the story of Hang Nadim's Journey To India. PHOTO: MALAY HERITAGE CENTRE Teroka Raya Festival The Malay Heritage Centre may be closed for a revamp, but it is celebrating Hari Raya with some fun family-friendly activities at sister institution Indian Heritage Centre. The most intriguing is the English-language storytelling sessio n. Tales From The Nusantara: Hang Nadim's Journey To India tells the story of the well-known Malay folktale hero journeying to India in search of unique textiles for the Sultan of Melaka. The session by storyteller Hafiz Rashid will also include a workshop, where participants can desig n paper dolls and textile outfits. Fashionistas will appreciate the henna party with SyraSkins, run by sisters Mehroon and Syra Gulam; and Mari Berkain: Malay Fabric And Styling Worksho p, where attendees can learn to drape traditional menswear such as the sarong and samping at the hands-on styling session with vintage fashion social media account Kebaya Societe. Where: Indian Heritage Centre, 5 Campbell Lane MRT: Rochor When: April 26, 10.30am to 6.30pm Admission: Free and ticketed Info: Peter Rabbit-inspired high tea The Peter Rabbit-inspired high tea at Skai takes inspiration from Beatrix Potter's beloved stories. PHOTO: SKAI Art and literature make for good high tea fodder, it seems. The latest in a series of art-inspired high teas in town is contemporary grill restaurant Skai's Beatrix Potter-themed event. The beloved Peter Rabbit characters are a perfect match for the very English tradition of tea. Executive chef Seumas Smith and executive pastry chef Yong Ming Choong have cooked up a delightful menu that takes inspiration from Potter's stories. Chef Smith has very tactfully avoided making Mr McGregor's pie (#IYKYK) and instead offers Mr McGregor's Garden Sandwich, comprising beef brisket sandwiched in seed bread with the obligatory dollop of mustard. He has also drawn on the classic dish of coronation chicken for Mrs Tiggy-Winkle's Picnic Pie, packing curry flavour in a dainty vol au vent for a punchy bite. His Forbidden Orchard Tartlet, featuring foie gras in a glossy red apple coat, rivals the sweet treats for most Instagram-friendly bite. Wha t adults will appreciate is that the desserts are not overly sugary. Peter's Garden Pot, with dark chocolate gelato pepped up with a citrus confit packed into an edible pink chocolate pot and topped with edible flowers, is entirely charming. While there is the obligatory tea (by TWG) and coffee (by Suzuki), adults can also top up for a cocktail creation. Book your tea on Skai's website for a chance to win a Peter Rabbit plush toy. Where: Skai, 70-01 Swissotel The Stamford, 2 Stamford Road MRT: City Hall When: Till June 30, 3 to 5pm daily Admission: $68 (adult), $34 (child) Info: Silent Stories Of Time Cultural Medallion recipient Ang Ah Tee is exhibiting still-life paintings at Hai Hui Art Gallery. PHOTO: ANG AH TEE Cultural Medallion recipient Ang Ah Tee is a prolific painter best known for his landscapes. The 82-year-old's latest show at Hai Hui Art Gallery focuses on his still life paintings. He has always been unabashed about painting commercially viable works and the 22 pieces on display are indubitably accessible art pieces that would fit in any home. His signature technique, using a palette knife with acrylic, gives his works t exture and dynamism. Works like Flowers In A Blue Vase and Guitar And Maracas, with their quirky composition and bright colours, suggest the influence of Impressionist painters such as Paul Cezanne and Vincent van Gogh. Where: Hai Hui Art Gallery, 04-46 The Adelphi, 1 Coleman Street MRT: City Hall When: April 26 to May 12, noon to 6.30pm daily Admission: Free Info: Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
