Australia
Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies secures buy-now-pay-later deal for temperature optimisation technology in Israel
Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies Ltd (ASX:ROO) has secured a major sales channel into the Israel market for its proprietary Root Zone Temperature Optimisation (RZTO) technology.
This comes by way of a strategic deal with large retail and wholesale agricultural supplier Amir Marketing and Investing in Agriculture Ltd (TLV:AMRK) to promote and sell the RZTO technology in Israel.
The agreement includes a Buy Now – Pay Later component aimed at lowering the barriers of entry for farmers and expediting product uptake.
Plan gaining traction[hhmc]
This payment plan is already gaining traction with the first sale valued at $14,300 for an RZTO system. The system, which was sold to a peonies grower in North Israel, was recently installed.
The company plans to adapt this type of sales plan and roll it out in other countries if it is successful in Israel.
“Significant milestone”[hhmc]
Roots executive chairman and chief executive officer Boaz Wachtel said: “This strategic agreement i..

Roots Sustainable Agricultural Technologies Ltd (ASX:ROO) has secured a major sales channel into the Israel market for its proprietary Root Zone Temperature Optimisation (RZTO) technology.
This comes by way of a strategic deal with large retail and wholesale agricultural supplier Amir Marketing and Investing in Agriculture Ltd (TLV:AMRK) to promote and sell the RZTO technology in Israel.
The agreement includes a Buy Now – Pay Later component aimed at lowering the barriers of entry for farmers and expediting product uptake.
Plan gaining traction
This payment plan is already gaining traction with the first sale valued at $14,300 for an RZTO system. The system, which was sold to a peonies grower in North Israel, was recently installed.
The company plans to adapt this type of sales plan and roll it out in other countries if it is successful in Israel.
“Significant milestone”
Roots executive chairman and chief executive officer Boaz Wachtel said: “This strategic agreement is a significant milestone for the company as it provides a major sales channel into the Israeli market, as well as visibility for our solutions in over 23 retail stores throughout the country at little expense.
“The payment agreement we have struck with Amir will make our technology much more accessible to farmers and other growers throughout Israel as the payment terms align well with farmers receivable terms.
“The agreement further validates Root's RZTO technology after passing scrutiny by Amir experts.”
Increasing demand
Roots is seeing an increasing demand for its RZTO technology in Israel and multiple international markets.
It has set up an in-country supply chain to fulfil any orders from potential customers quickly and efficiently.
Wachtel said: “Roots is well positioned with a strong supply chain and has number of initiatives underway to drive sales domestically where RZTO is being well-received and accepted.
“As sale materialise through Amir, we will update shareholders on progress. If we can achieve success in Israel using Buy Now – Pay Later terms, we plan to adapt this type of plan in other countries.”
Roots and Amir management following the execution of the strategic agreement.
Spread payments up to 24 months
Under the agreement, Amir will exclusively promote its RZTO technology in its 23 stores and offer the Buy Now – Pay Later plan, which will allow consumers to spread payments up to 24 months, with flexible payment structures.
The sales and marketing agreement will run for one year, with the option to extend if agreed by both parties.
Roots will pay a fixed commission to Amir for services rendered. The amount paid is confidential.
Although Amir is not required to meet any minimum purchase requirements, Roots is confident the agreement will underpin further sales of its RZTO technology.
Australia
Australia election: Why is Australia’s parliament so white?

Australia
Scott Morrison effectively ditches his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption commission

Scott Morrison has effectively abandoned his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog, confirming he would only proceed with legislation in the new parliament if Labor agreed to pass the Coalition’s heavily criticised proposal without amendments.
Morrison pledged before the 2019 election to legislate a federal integrity body in the parliamentary term that has just ended. The prime minister broke that promise, failing to introduce his own proposal before the 46th parliament was prorogued.
On the hustings on Wednesday, Morrison was asked – given his previous undertaking to create the body – whether he would promise to put his proposal to a vote in the next parliament in the event the Coalition won the 21 May election.
Morrison declined to make that promise. “Our position on this hasn’t changed,” the prime minister said. “Our view has been the same – when the Labor party is prepared to support that legislation in that form, then we will proceed with it.”
The prime minister has attempted to inoculate himself from criticism about breaking an election promise by saying he tabled the integrity commission proposal in the parliament.
Tabling an exposure draft, which is what the prime minister did, is not the same as introducing finished legislation to the House of Representatives or the Senate that is then debated and voted on.
As well as repeatedly fudging what happened in parliament, Morrison has also created the impression the proposal can only proceed if Labor agrees to its passage without amendments.
All governments routinely introduce legislation for debate without any undertaking that it will be passed by the opposition. Labor favours a stronger model than the Coalition’s proposal.
Morrison’s lack of urgency on the issue created tensions within government ranks. Late last year, the Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to support independent MP Helen Haines’ bill to establish a federal integrity commission. Archer accused the government of “inertia” over the issue.
At that time, Archer said she was “perplexed” at her own government’s failure to release a revised bill almost three years after it was promised before the last election.
While Morrison clearly wants to move on from the issue, he will face renewed pressure from crossbench independents if the coming election is close enough to deliver a hung parliament.
A number of independents running against Liberals in metropolitan seats have made it clear that establishing a credible national integrity commission will be a key demand in the event any new government – Liberal or Labor – is seeking agreements for confidence and supply.
Haines blasted Morrison’s comments on Wednesday. “Mr Morrison broke an election promise to introduce an anti-corruption commission and his pathway to creating one is still as vague as it was in the last parliament,” she said.
The crossbench independent said it was “nonsense” for the prime minister to claim that he could not proceed unless Labor agreed with the Coalition’s proposal without seeking any amendments. “It would appear we are in the same void as we were before,” Haines said.
Australia
Chinese healer Hong Chi Xiao has manslaughter charge overturned and will face new trial

A western Sydney “slapping therapy” practitioner who was found guilty of the manslaughter of a six-year-old diabetic boy and sentenced to 10 years in prison has had his conviction overturned and will face another trial.
Hong Chi Xiao appeared in Sydney’s Court of Criminal Appeal on Wednesday.
Mr Xiao was extradited from London to Sydney in 2017 to face charges more than two years after the boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died following a series of workshops held in Hurstville in April 2015.
The boy’s parents attended the conference where the self-proclaimed Chinese healer showed a “disdain for Western medicine”.
Mr Xiao allegedly advised the parents to stop their son’s insulin injections and blood glucose tests.
A Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) investigation found that Mr Xiao told the boy’s parents that slapping therapy “could heal all diseases, including diabetes, and that no medication was required because insulin could be generated” through the treatment.
He also allegedly recommended the six-year-old boy stop eating for three days and only drink water or a “ginger date drink”.
Slapping therapy, also known as paida lajin, advocates the slapping of skin to release toxins from patients.
The boy became visibly ill over several days and began vomiting a black substance, but Mr Xiao allegedly told the boy’s mother that his body was adjusting to the “self-healing process”.
He began having seizures and was rushed to St George Hospital, where he died.
The NSW Coroner found the treatment directly caused the boy’s death on April 27, 2015.
A District Court jury found Mr Xiao guilty of manslaughter for breaching the duty of care he owed the six-year-old boy through gross negligence.
He was handed a sentence of 10 years with a non-parole period of 7½ years in December 2019.
District Court Judge Garry Neilson said Mr Xiao showed “no signs of true remorse”.
Mr Xiao launched an appeal against his conviction, claiming inconsistencies in the evidence and that Judge Neilson told the jury that there was “no defence” during the trial.
Tim Game SC told the court that Judge Neilson did not summarise the defence case and did not give enough evidence to the jury to make a sound decision.
After a short adjournment, Justice Derek Price, Justice Ian Harrison and Justice Mark Ierace granted the appeal and quashed Mr Xiao’s conviction.
However, he will have to face a fresh trial in front of a new jury.
Mr Xiao will face the Sydney District Court on March 11 for mention.
He has been permanently banned from practising medicine by the HCCC.
The boy’s mother, father and grandmother were also initially charged over his death, but they were found not guilty and acquitted.
Mr Xiao has been in prison since his arrest in 2017 but has long rejected criticism that his techniques endanger lives.
-
Australia3 years ago
Button and Diane Powellpark the school bus after three decades
-
Australia4 years ago
60th Annual Louth Cup 2018 | Photos
-
Australia4 years ago
A good attendance for planning ahead
-
Australia4 years ago
Severe, unusual weather likely to cause damage
-
Australia4 years ago
Ten ways to scrap plastic without breaking the bank
-
World4 years ago
Сhinese navy jets master daring night maneuvers on aircraft carrier (VIDEO)
-
World4 years ago
Know-how: Canadian hospital first to сure patients with virtual reality
-
fun5 years ago
Will Gompertz reviews Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical Hamilton ★★★★★