Month: January 2021

Categories
Entertainment

Good Luck Is a Curse in This Traditional Movie From Senegal

Good Luck Is a Curse in This Classic Film From Senegal

Neorealism was born in post-war Italy. However, in the mid-1950s, the largest examples were made abroad. “Mandabi” (“The Payment Order”), the second feature film by the dean of the West African filmmaker Ousmane Sembène (1923-2007), is one of them. Filmed with a cast of non-professionals on the streets of Dakar, Senegal, it’s a pickling fable of happiness gone bad. The newly restored film from 1968 can be streamed from the Film Forum from January 15th.

“Stop killing us with hope,” exclaims one of the two women of the dignified but unhappy protagonist of the film, Ibrahima, a devout Muslim who has not worked for four years. The postman just told them that out of the blue a money order from Ibrahima’s nephew had arrived in Paris.

News travels fast. Needy neighbors, not to mention the local imam, arrive with their hands outstretched. In the meantime, Ibrahima learns that he must have ID in order to redeem the money order. In order to receive an ID, he needs a birth certificate. To get a birth certificate, he has to have a friend in court – don’t mention a photo and the money to get one. Being illiterate, Ibrahima will also need someone to explain each procedure. Dakar was once the command center for the African colonies of France and has no shortage of bureaucrats.

While it is never clear how Ibrahima managed to support two women, seven children, and his own vanity in a city where fresh water is a cash asset, his wives wait for him as if he were a baby. A real child whines off camera as Ibrahima is pampered, but a deeper irony involves his identity. His mission to cash his nephew’s money order shows that, at least in the official sense, he doesn’t have one. Worse still, his quest for a stroke of luck that doesn’t even belong to him sets him up as a sign of all kinds of cheaters, hustlers and thieves – in a word, society in general.

Most of the people Ibrahima encounters are consumed with selfishness. “Mandabi”, however, is quite generous – rich in detail, a feast for the eyes and ears. The colors are vivid and saturated; The theme song was a local hit until the Senegalese government apparently recognized its subversive power and banned it from the radio. (Based on a short story by Senegal’s first president, Léopold Sédar Senghor, the film has a complicated relationship to authority, which may be responsible for the less than convincing optimism of its pinned ending.)

New York Times film critic Roger Greenspun reviewed “Mandabi” when it was shown at the 1969 New York Film Festival and wrote, “As a comedy dealing with the misery of life, it exhibits a controlled sophistication.” Indeed, “Mandabi” may at first seem like a story from Kafka or the Book of Job, but essentially criticizes a post-colonial system that pits classes against classes in the exploitation of almost all classes.

It is also a satire of self-deception. Years ago, Sembène told two Film Quarterly interviewers that “Mandabi” had been shown all over Africa “because every other country claims that what happens in the film only happens in Senegal.”

Available for screening January 15; filmforum.org.

Categories
Business

Connecticut is investigating Amazon’s practices within the e-books market.

Connecticut is investigating Amazon’s practices in the e-books market.

Connecticut’s top law enforcement officer said Wednesday that he was conducting an antitrust investigation into how Amazon runs its e-book business.

Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said in a statement that the state has “an active and ongoing antitrust investigation into Amazon regarding potentially anti-competitive terms” in the company’s electronic book distribution agreements with some publishers.

The investigation is the latest antitrust investigation against Amazon that has been made public. Officials in California and Washington have examined how the company handles the independent vendors that use its marketplace. The Federal Trade Commission also has its own investigation into the company, which critics say has become a dominant online retailer by defeating smaller competitors.

An Amazon spokesman declined to comment. The investigation was previously reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Amazon started selling books in the 1990s. The company introduced its Kindle e-books reader in 2007. The company quickly caught the attention of regulators. In 2012, the Justice Department sued Apple, saying it had partnered with major publishers to increase the price of e-books above the $ 9.99 Amazon charged.

Connecticut was among the states that filed their own lawsuit against Apple. Mr Tong, a Democrat, said in his statement that his office “continues to aggressively monitor this market to protect fair competition for consumers, authors and other e-book retailers”.

Categories
Politics

Rubio urges Biden to name for $2,000 stimulus checks on Day 1

Rubio urges Biden to call for $2,000 stimulus checks on Day 1

Senator Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Exits a subway car on the Senate subway on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, between votes at the Capitol in Washington DC.

Caroline Brehman | CQ appeal | Getty Images

Florida GOP Senator Marco Rubio urges President-elect Joe Biden to push for $ 2,000 in direct payments to Americans on the first day of his presidency as a token of unity following the DC uprising last week.

“Last Wednesday was one of the darkest days in our history. Everywhere in our nation people are looking for answers and calling for accountability, but they are also desperate for hope: hope that Washington leaders can take steps to help our deeply divided People to Heal Nation, “the Florida Republican wrote in a letter to Biden Tuesday.

He added, “It would send a strong message to the American people if, on the first day of your presidency, you asked the House and Senate to pass laws to you to increase direct payments to Americans for the economic impact that because of the pandemic to have to fight from $ 600 to $ 2,000. “

Rubio and Biden both supported $ 2,000 direct payments in the Covid-19 auxiliary bill that was passed late last year. That move was blocked by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. Biden has not yet set his full agenda for the next round of coronavirus-related aid, but is expected to do so on Thursday. It was already expected that he would push for $ 2,000 in payments.

Democrats have more leverage over the next round of talks thanks to the party’s victories in Georgia’s two democratic runoff elections last week, which allowed them to control the upper chamber of Congress. Democrats will soon hold the Senate, House of Representatives, and White House. Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th at 12 noon.

Following news of the Georgia victories, Biden said he would be pushing for “trillions” in spending on Covid-19 aid.

“It is necessary to spend the money now,” Biden said last week. “The answer is yes, it will be in the trillions of dollars, a whole package.”

The economy, which has been plagued by the health crisis since March, has recently shown signs of deteriorating again after months of lukewarm recovery. The number of non-farm workers fell by 140,000 last month. This marked the first net job loss for the economy since the US lockdown began

In the letter, Rubio urged Biden not to let the payments “get entangled in normal political games by adding a wish-list of left-wing or other unrelated priorities to this legislation”.

“All too often, popular and necessary legislation is used as a lever to secure passage for guidelines that cannot of their own accord,” wrote Rubio. “We saw it already in the middle of the pandemic, when additional funding for small businesses was repeatedly blocked for months.”

The Biden transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

One of the possible measures that Biden has proposed as part of the aid package for Covid-19 is an increase in the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour, a longstanding Democratic priority. Two-thirds of Americans said last year that they are in favor of raising the minimum wage to this level, according to a poll by the Pew Research Center.

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Categories
Business

Nordstrom (JWN) shares drop as retailer says vacation gross sales tumbled 22%

Nordstrom (JWN) shares drop as retailer says holiday sales tumbled 22%

A person walks into the Nordstrom store, which is open for business, as New York City re-opens Phase 2 after restrictions to contain the coronavirus pandemic were placed in New York, New York on June 29, 2020.

Rob Kim | Getty Images

Nordstrom on Wednesday reported a 22% drop in sales for the nine-week period ending Jan. 2 as the department store chain struggled to get shoppers into their stores for clothing, shoes and Christmas gifts.

Shares fell more than 3% in after-hours trading.

According to Nordstrom, digital sales in the holiday season increased 23% from 2019 and accounted for 54% of total sales, compared to 34% a year ago. And more than 30% of customers’ online orders came from the stores, the company added.

The double-digit drop in sales was in line with expectations for the fourth quarter, Nordstrom said.

“We are encouraged by the increasing momentum during and after the Christmas season,” CEO Erik Nordstrom said in a statement.

The company continues to expect a profitable fourth quarter of the fiscal year, but continues to face pressure from increased shipping surcharges in its growing e-commerce business.

Nordstrom will host a virtual investor event on February 4th and will announce fourth quarter results on March 2nd.

On Tuesday, clothing retailer Urban Outfitters reported disappointing Christmas sales due to the decline in store traffic due to the Covid pandemic. While big box retailer Target said on Wednesday sales in the same store grew more than 17% during the holidays, fueled by online gains. Off-mall retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Walmart have for the most part outperformed mall-based companies.

Nordstrom stocks are down about 10% over the past 12 months. The company has a market value of nearly $ 6 billion.

Read the full Nordstrom press release.

Categories
World News

Hundreds of thousands Flock to Telegram and Sign as Fears Develop Over Large Tech

Millions Flock to Telegram and Signal as Fears Grow Over Big Tech

Neeraj Agrawal, a spokesperson for a think tank for cryptocurrency, has typically used the encrypted messaging app Signal to chat with privacy-conscious colleagues and colleagues. He was surprised on Monday when the app drew his attention to two new users: mom and dad.

“Signal still had a subversive glow,” said Mr. Agrawal, 32. “Now my parents are in.”

Gavin McInnes, founder of the far-right Proud Boys group, had just announced his return on Telegram. “Man, I haven’t posted anything here in a while,” he wrote on Sunday. “I will post regularly.”

And on Twitter, Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, also weighed in two words last week: “Use Signal”.

In the past week, tens of millions of people downloaded Signal and Telegram, making them the two hottest apps in the world. With Signal, messages can be sent with “end-to-end encryption”, ie only the sender and recipient can read the content. Telegram offers some encrypted messaging options, but is mostly popular for its group-based chat rooms where users can discuss a wide variety of topics.

Their sudden surge in popularity was fueled by a series of events over the past week that raised concerns about some of the big tech companies and their communication apps, like WhatsApp, which Facebook owns. Tech companies like Facebook and Twitter removed thousands of far-right accounts – including President Trump’s – after the Capitol storm. Amazon, Apple, and Google have also dropped support for Parler, a social network popular with Mr. Trump’s fans. In response, conservatives looked for new apps to communicate with.

At the same time, privacy concerns about WhatsApp were mounting, which last week a pop-up notification reminded users that some of their data will be shared with the parent company. The notification sparked a wave of fear fueled by viral chain messages falsely claiming Facebook could read WhatsApp messages.

The result has been mass migration that, if it continues, could weaken the power of Facebook and other big tech companies. On Tuesday, Telegram announced that it had added more than 25 million users in the past three days, which equates to more than 500 million users. According to estimates by Apptopia, an app data company, Signal added nearly 1.3 million users on Monday alone, after an average of just 50,000 downloads per day last year.

“We already had a lot of downloads,” said Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram, in a message on the app on Tuesday. “But this time it’s different.”

Carl Woog, a spokesman for WhatsApp, said that users’ privacy settings have not changed and that rumors about what data is being shared are largely unfounded.

“What doesn’t change is that private messages to friends and family, including group chats, are protected with end-to-end encryption so that we can’t see them,” he said.

The rise of Telegram and Signal could spark the debate about encryption, which helps protect the privacy of people’s digital communications, but can hinder authorities in criminal investigations as conversations are hidden.

In particular, the move to apps by far-right groups has worried US authorities, some of whom are trying to track plans for potentially violent rallies at or before the inauguration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. next week.

“The proliferation of encrypted platforms where law enforcement can’t even monitor rhetoric enables groups with bad intent to plan behind the curtain,” said Louis Grever, director of the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies.

Capitol Riot Fallout

Updated

Jan. 13, 2021, 6:09 p.m. ET

Telegram is particularly popular with right-wing extremists as it mimics social media. After Facebook and Twitter limited Mr Trump to their services last week and other companies enlisted their assistance from Parler, right-wing groups on Parler and other fringe social networks posted links to new Telegram channels and encouraged people to join them.

In the four hours after Parler went offline on Monday, a Proud Boys group on Telegram gained over 4,000 new followers.

“Don’t trust Big Tech,” read a message in a Proud Boys group on Parler. “We need to find safer rooms.”

On Signal, a Florida-based militia group said Monday that it is organizing its chats in small city-to-city chats, limited to a few dozen people each, according to the New York Times. They warned each other not to let in anyone they did not know personally to avoid police officers spying on their chats.

The deluge of users of Telegram, based in Dubai, and Signal, based in Silicon Valley, goes well beyond American right. Mr Durov said 94 percent of Telegram’s 25 million new users were from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Data from Apptopia showed that while the US was the main source of Signal’s new users, downloads of both apps increased in India, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil and elsewhere.

Concerns about WhatsApp’s privacy policy have increased Telegram and Signal’s popularity. While there haven’t been any significant changes to the way WhatsApp handles user data, users immediately interpreted the app’s privacy notice last week as infiltrating and infiltrating all kinds of personal information – such as personal chat logs and voice calls passes this data on to companies.

WhatsApp was quick to say that people were wrong and that it couldn’t see anything in encrypted chats and calls. But it was too late.

“The whole world now seems to understand that Facebook doesn’t create apps for them, Facebook apps for their data,” said Moxie Marlinspike, Founder and CEO of Signal. “It took this one little catalyst to get everyone over the edge of change.”

The passion was so great that Moses Tsali, a rapper from Los Angeles, released a music video for his song “Hit Me On Signal” on Tuesday. And Mr. Musk’s endorsement of Signal last week drove publicly traded shares of Signal Advance Inc., a small medical device maker, from a market value of around $ 50 million to over $ 3 billion. (The company has no relationship with the messaging app.)

Some world leaders have also urged people to join them on the apps. On Sunday, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s Twitter account from Mexico spoke about his new telegram group. As of Wednesday, it had nearly 100,000 members.

Eli Sapir, executive director of Apptopia, said that while WhatsApp has fairer concerns about data collection on Facebook, WhatsApp actually uses more secure encryption than Telegram. “It’s like switching from something high in sugar to corn syrup,” he said, adding that Signal was the safest of the three.

Meyi Alabi, 18, a student in Ibadan, Nigeria, said she was surprised this week when her mother invited her to join Signal. Her mother downloaded the app at the urging of a friend who was worried about WhatsApp.

“I was shocked because she got it before me,” she said. “We usually tell our parents about the new apps. Now we are suddenly informed. “

Mr Agrawal, the cryptocurrency worker, said his parents had long been active in several WhatsApp group chats with college friends and relatives in India. He said they told him they joined Signal to follow many of the chats that moved there because some of the attendees were concerned about WhatsApp’s new policy.

He said he knew the dangers of the WhatsApp policy were overstated, but that much of the public did not understand how their data was being handled.

“They hear these important things – data sharing, Facebook, data protection,” said Agrawal, “and that’s enough for them to say I have to get away from it.”

Categories
Health

Cramer takes Covid vaccine, urges People to enroll in a shot

Cramer takes Covid vaccine, urges Americans to sign up for a shot

CNBC’s Jim Cramer on Wednesday urged Americans to get the coronavirus vaccine soon after receiving a shot of his own.

“Today is a great day! I encourage all of you who are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” wrote the Mad Money host on Twitter.

“One of the biggest things about a 65th birthday is the chance to get vaccinated,” added Cramer in his tweet. It was an indication of the recent change in New York policy to extend vaccine eligibility to those 65 years of age and older, as well as to younger people with compromised immune systems.

“Even if it looks like there are no more appointments, don’t be discouraged. Keep updating this page and you can make an appointment too!” wrote Cramer, who throughout the pandemic has stressed the importance of vaccines in limiting the harm caused by Covid-19.

New York announced its decision to expand the funding pool on Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reissued. The move came when the launch of the U.S. vaccine was criticized for being unconvincing, in part because some Americans were reluctant to get the shot.

“I think that’s great, because one thing is certain: we have a lot more vaccines than people who take the vaccine,” said Cramer on Tuesday on Squawk on the Street.

By Wednesday morning, around 10.3 million Americans had received their first shot of the two-dose vaccine, according to the CDC. About 29.4 million cans were distributed. The Trump administration originally hoped to vaccinate 20 million people by the end of 2020.

Cramer said in another tweet on Wednesday that he received the vaccine developed by Moderna, which is one of two that has received emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The other vaccine is made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech.

Categories
Business

U.S. Bans All Cotton and Tomatoes From Xinjiang Area of China

U.S. Bans All Cotton and Tomatoes From Xinjiang Region of China

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration on Wednesday announced a ban on imports of cotton and tomatoes from China’s Xinjiang region, as well as all products made with these materials, citing human rights violations and the widespread use of forced labor in the region.

The move could have far-reaching implications for apparel and food manufacturers, many of whom have tried to distance themselves from the atrocities in Xinjiang but have struggled to ensure their supply chains are free of all raw materials from the region. The area is an important source of cotton, coal, chemicals, sugar, tomatoes and polysilicon, a component of solar panels, which are then fed to factories across China and around the world.

The ban allows customs officials to stop imports that they suspect are made with raw materials from Xinjiang, regardless of whether they are traveling to the US directly from China or any other country.

China has harshly attacked predominantly Muslim minority groups in far west of Xinjiang, including detaining a million or more Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other groups in camps and closely monitoring the rest of the population, human rights groups say.

Forced labor also appears to be widespread in the region. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said an investigation found numerous indicators of forced labor in Xinjiang, including debt bondage, restricted mobility, withheld wages and abusive living and working conditions. The Chinese government denies the existence of forced labor in Xinjiang and states that all agreements are voluntary.

Scott Nova, executive director of the Workers Rights Consortium, a labor rights group, described the ban as “a high decibel wake-up call for any clothing brand that continues to deny the proliferation and problem of forced labor cotton” in the region.

“This ban will redefine how the clothing industry – from Amazon to Nike to Zara – sources its materials and workers,” said Nova. “Any global clothing brand that is neither from Xinjiang nor planning a very quick exit is campaigning for a legal and reputational disaster.”

The Workers Rights Consortium estimates that American brands and retailers import more than 1.5 billion garments each year that use Xinjiang materials, representing more than $ 20 billion in retail sales. China is also the world’s largest tomato producer, with Xinjiang making up most of that production, the group said.

Independent researchers and media reports have linked dozens of the world’s best-known multinationals with workers or products from Xinjiang, including Apple, Nike, Kraft Heinz and Campbell Soup.

Some textile and clothing companies that used Xinjiang cotton or yarn have announced that they will separate ties, including Patagonia, Marks and Spencer, and H&M. However, many companies have found it difficult to identify the origin of all products used by their Chinese suppliers investigate, particularly given the lack of independent auditor access to facilities in Xinjiang.

The contract will “send a crystal clear message to the trading community: know your supply chains,” said Mark Morgan, acting commissioner for US Customs and Border Protection. Importers need to ensure that their own supply chains are free of forced labor, he added. “It’s the law.”

The Trump administration has added increasingly restrictive measures to Xinjiang, including sanctions against dozens of companies and individuals for alleged human rights abuses.

In December, customs officials announced a ban on cotton products from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, an economic and paramilitary group that produces much of the region’s cotton. U.S. Customs and Border Protection has already arrested 43 shipments worth more than $ 2 million under the ban, officials said on Wednesday.

Congress is also considering sweeping legislation that would block imports from Xinjiang unless companies can demonstrate that supply chains in the region are free from forced labor.

While the United States has taken the most vigorous action on this front, both Canada and Britain this week put rules in place to prevent Xinjiang-related goods from entering their countries.

Despite growing concerns about Chinese practices in the region, Xinjiang’s exports to the US and Europe increased significantly from 2019 to 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

However, trade experts say the new measures will raise questions about whether customs officials will be able to fully enforce such a sweeping ban that requires tracing Xinjiang materials through supply chains around the world.

A report released in October by the US Government Accountability Office found that customs faced staff shortages and other problems despite a new department and new resources to block goods made using forced labor.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Brenda Smith, the deputy commissioner for the Trade and Border Protection Bureau, said it was “a challenge to relate what we see in a port of entry to the raw materials produced in Xinjiang. “The department is using new tracking methods to uncover products made using forced labor, she said.

The department is increasingly using new technologies such as pollen analysis to try to identify cotton and other materials from Xinjiang in overseas products.

Categories
Health

Nutritional vitamins C and E Tied to Decrease Threat for Parkinson’s Illness

Vitamins C and E Tied to Lower Risk for Parkinson’s Disease

People on diets rich in vitamins C and E may have a lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.

The researchers followed 41,058 Swedish men and women for an average of 18 years and collected data on their health and diet. They rated vitamin C and E intake, as well as beta-carotene, and a measure called NEAC, which takes into account all of the antioxidants in food and their interactions with one another.

In the course of the study published in Neurology, there were 465 cases of Parkinson’s disease.

After adjusting for age, gender, BMI, education, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other characteristics, they found that, compared to a third of people with the lowest intake of vitamin C or E, the third with the highest intake had a 32 percent reduced that Parkinson’s Risk. Those with the highest third of consuming both vitamins combined had a 38 percent reduced risk. There was no effect for beta-carotene or the NEAC measurement.

The lead author, Essi Hantikainen, who was a researcher at the University of Milan-Bicocca at the time of the work, stated that further research needs to be done before drawing any final conclusions or giving advice on diet or supplement use and the risk of Parkinson’s disease will.

Still, she said, “Following a diet high in foods rich in vitamins C and E could help protect against developing Parkinson’s later in life. In any case, it is never wrong to eat healthily. “

Categories
Politics

Diana DeGette: Impeachment Supervisor Has Deep Expertise within the Home

Diana DeGette: Impeachment Manager Has Deep Experience in the House

WASHINGTON – When Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi was looking for someone to lead the historic debate on the indictment against President Trump in late 2019, she chose a veteran Democrat who had impressed her with a tough, skilled parliamentary hand: Colorado Representative Diana DeGette.

“When I sit here in the speaker’s chair, I can only think how serious this debate is for the future of our republic,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “The fact that I have been asked to preside over the House for this important moment in our nation’s history is truly an honor.”

Now Ms. Pelosi has reached out to Ms. DeGette again, this time as the impeachment manager, to pursue the case against Mr. Trump in the Senate. In selecting the Colorado Congressman, she selected someone with years of experience in the House of Representatives and in the Chairmanship of the Chairman.

Ms. DeGette, first elected in 1996, was the Democrats’ deputy whip for 14 years – the member of the leadership responsible for counting votes, known in Congress as the whip. She often holds the hammer in the house and turns in and out of the chair as usual.

On Capitol Hill, she carved out a niche in health policy and as a reproductive rights advocate – a legislative portfolio that dates back to her legislature in the 1990s when she wrote what was called the “Bubble Bill”, an eight-foot-long privacy bubble any person within 30 meters of a Colorado health facility, including abortion clinics. The bill survived a challenge from the Supreme Court.

She is also the author of the 21st Century Cures Act, a 2016 measure designed to help accelerate the development of medical products and bring new innovations and advances to patients who need them faster and more efficiently. It was among the last bills that President Barack Obama signed.

When the Democrats recaptured a majority of the House in 2018, Ms. DeGette announced her intention to run for the top whip, which would have made her the number 3 Democrat in the House. But she eventually withdrew from the race, referring to the “internal pressure” of the Democrats to align themselves behind the existing leadership triumvirate of Ms. Pelosi. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader; and Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the current whip.

On Tuesday, she said she was “honored” to help with this second impeachment.

“Trump has shown that he is a real threat to this country,” she wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to doing my part to remove him from office immediately.”

Categories
Business

Walgreens appears to bank card, monetary companies to spice up income

Walgreens looks to credit card, financial services to boost revenue

People wearing masks walk on a zebra crossing near a walgreens on September 30, 2020 in New York City.

Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images

Walgreens announced Wednesday that it will offer a growing list of financial products to customers – including a co-branded credit card and a prepaid debit card – as it seeks to get more of their wallets and help them manage expensive medical expenses to help.

The credit cards will be introduced in the second half of this year. They will be part of the Mastercard network and will be issued by Synchrony. They will be linked to Walgreens’ new loyalty program, which the company relaunched in November with a new name, perks, and Covid-pandemic-inspired features such as roadside pickup and delivery via DoorDash and Postmates.

Walgreens and his drugstore counterparts are adapting to rapidly changing consumer behavior that accelerated during the pandemic. Walgreens has been looking for new business opportunities including a deal with VillageMD to open hundreds of primary care clinics in its branches.

John Standley, president of Walgreens, said the company also sees financial services as one of those growth drivers. “As we continue to focus on generating new revenue streams, we look forward to researching and rolling out even more health and wellness payment initiatives in the near future,” he said in a press release.

It is the second major retailer this week to announce plans to expand into financial services. Walmart said Monday that a fintech start-up is doing it with Ribbit Capital, one of the venture capital firms that support Robinhood. The separate company will be majority owned by the big box retailer.

The pandemic and recession have put pressure on many families to try to stretch their money as they pay the bills and cope with reduced hours or unemployment. During the holidays, for example, a growing number of consumers looked for other ways to finance their purchases. Use of “buy now, pay later” for online orders increased 109% during the Christmas shopping season, November 1 through December 31, with the largest ramp-up occurring in the last week before Christmas, according to a recent report from Salesforce.

Affirm Holdings, a provider of consumer credit to online shoppers, began trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.