In a thrilling Premier League match between Liverpool and Manchester City, the result was a 2-2 draw. While many expected a tense and closely contested match, few would have predicted such an intense battle between the two top sides. Liverpool's manager, Jurgen Klopp, expressed his thoughts after the match, stating that his team should have come away with all three points, but he was still satisfied with the one point they earned.Despite the challenges and setbacks faced by Boeing in recent years, the aerospace industry continues to show resilience and adaptability. With global demand for air travel projected to rebound in the coming years, Boeing remains optimistic about the future of the 737 MAX and its ability to meet the needs of airlines and passengers around the world. The resumption of production not only signifies a turning point for Boeing but also underscores the company's dedication to innovation, quality, and safety in its aircraft manufacturing processes.
While the government has yet to issue an official statement on the matter, the public is eagerly awaiting a response to address the allegations and provide clarity on the situation. The chief prosecutor, once a respected figure in the legal community, now faces the possibility of severe disciplinary action and potential criminal charges.BEIRUT — Insurgents’ stunning march across Syria accelerated Saturday with news that they had reached the gates of the capital and that government forces had abandoned the central city of Homs. The government denied rumors that President Bashar Assad had fled the country. The loss of Homs is a potentially crippling blow for Assad. It stands at an important intersection between Damascus and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base. The pro-government Sham FM reported that government forces took positions outside Syria’s third-largest city, without elaborating. Rami Abdurrahman who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said Syrian troops and members of different security agencies have withdrawn from the city, adding that rebels have entered parts of it. The capture of Homs is a major victory for insurgents, who have already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama, as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said Homs falling into rebel hands would be a game-changer. The rebels’ moves around Damascus, reported by the monitor and a rebel commander, came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. For the first time in the country’s long-running civil war, the government now has control of only three of 14 provincial capitals: Damascus, Latakia and Tartus. The advances in the past week were among the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad’s erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, on Saturday called for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria’s border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. “The situation is very strange. We are not used to that,” the resident said, insisting on anonymity, fearing retributions. “People are worried whether there will be a battle (in Damascus) or not.” It was the first time that opposition forces reached the outskirts of Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured the area following a yearslong siege. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he is performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine. Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015, and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. In a statement issued late Saturday, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” They also agreed on the importance of strengthening international efforts to increase aid to the Syrian people. Rami Abdurrahman, who heads the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said insurgents were in the Damascus suburbs of Maadamiyah, Jaramana and Daraya. Opposition fighters were marching toward the Damascus suburb of Harasta, he added. A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama, the country’s fourth largest city. Opposition activists said Saturday that a day earlier, insurgents entered Palmyra, which is home to invaluable archaeological sites had been in government hands since being taken from the Islamic State group in 2017. Get local news delivered to your inbox!Beyond the immediate impact on small businesses, the collaboration between Amazon and Intuit is also expected to drive innovation and entrepreneurship on a larger scale. By fostering a supportive ecosystem for SMEs, the partnership aims to fuel economic growth, job creation, and community development in the long run. Through shared expertise, resources, and networks, Amazon and Intuit are paving the way for a brighter future for small businesses around the world.
Iowa QB breaks silence, reaffirms commitment to Hawkeyes
When you're looking for a deal online, it can be hard to figure out what retailers are reliable and trustworthy. Although a handful of names are well-known and generally well-respected, new retailers are popping up all the time. Many of those retailers have deals that are hard to pass up. At the same time, shady business practices abound, and it's hard to know who to trust. You might wonder whether Temu is safe to order from , whether Shein is using your app data for more than shopping recommendations, or whether Alibaba is actually a real, reliable retailer, or just a big scam. While things can go wrong when you order from any website — even the industry giants — there might be a reason so many people are suspicious of Alibaba. Plus, some details don't necessarily add up, like Alibaba's "excellent" rating on Trustpilot amid complaints (many of them on Trustpilot, in fact) about fake products, bad sellers, and late or nonexistent refunds. Like Temu, which has a shady side , Alibaba also has some controversies that suggest that not everything is as it seems. Here's everything to know about the shady side of Alibaba, and why you might not want to order from the retailer. [Featured image by Mfn via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY-SA 4.0 ] Sure, Alibaba is a real shopping platform, and yes, things can go wrong sometimes. However, behind the scenes, Alibaba was also accused of monopolistic practices, and it apparently didn't have a viable defense for the charges. Investors in the U.S. filed a lawsuit against Alibaba that alleged the e-commerce company violated some laws relating to unfair competition and monopolies. Part of the lawsuit centered on reportedly misleading statements from Alibaba, which according to the investors was tied to market losses. Eventually, Alibaba agreed to pay $433.5 million following the class-action lawsuit, which the plaintiffs' lawyers stated was "exceptional." It turned out the investors were said to have lost around $10 billion, but they accepted the settlement from Alibaba for far less than that amount. Based on the way Reuters described the case, it sounds as though the investors settled rather than pursue a drawn-out court case, but they also forfeited billions of dollars. What's interesting about this case is that it involved shareholders and not the public. Although monopolizing the industry might help the shareholders make more money, their objection was apparently about a combination of finances and the reputation of Alibaba. Is it safe to purchase from Alibaba? Technically, yes, but the retailer itself has cautionary words for shoppers . In an interesting approach to search engine optimization, Alibaba writes about its own brand in the third person, asking whether it's safe to buy things through the e-commerce company. In answering its own question, Alibaba notes that there are problematic sellers on every platform but that on the whole Alibaba is safe. Alibaba's blog post suggests that consumers check out the history of any seller they plan to buy from. It also states that product quality can vary, so shoppers should be wary of matching product descriptions to images and specifications and request samples before ordering. Further, Alibaba suggests that payment security is not a concern because secure payment methods (like Alibaba's payment platform Alipay) give consumers protection services and avenues for pursuing refunds and disputes. Alibaba also implores shoppers to report counterfeit and other potentially copyrighted products. Of course, consumers may also be wary of sharing their data with the Alibaba app. After all, many apps steal more data than users are aware of, and cybersecurity is an important part of the online shopping experience, no matter where you buy from. Alibaba's prices are generally very low, which is part of the reason it's so successful. At the same time, Alibaba isn't a single vendor. Rather, it's a marketplace, almost like Amazon, where almost any business can begin selling products. That's where one of the problems with Alibaba lies because there doesn't seem to be much (or any) oversight of sellers on the platform. Consumers generally report receiving low-quality products, as evidenced by countless Trustpilot reviews, but the products they complain about run the gamut from toilets to UTVs to smart rings. Plenty of people write reviews in all-caps saying that Alibaba is a scam, and the general theme seems to be that despite an apparent money-back guarantee, Alibaba may refuse to give customers their money back. There might be inherent risk in purchasing from Alibaba the same way there's risk in purchasing from sites like Temu simply because there are too many sellers for the hosting website to sort through. At the same time, it doesn't seem as if Alibaba is focused on weeding out problematic sellers, especially because it asks customers to do that work for them by way of reporting faulty goods or poor policies. In addition to Trustpilot reviews alleging that many products on Alibaba are low quality, there's also the issue of knockoffs and counterfeit goods. Many shoppers have reported receiving counterfeit goods, specifically misrepresented name-brand products. Alibaba was also sued for allowing allegedly fake Squishmallows. Kelly Toys Holdings, which manufactures Squishmallows, sued Alibaba in 2023 over the issue. The lawsuit alleged that around 90 e-commerce companies had listings that advertised inauthentic Squishmallows but that Alibaba did not take action to stop the sales. Alibaba requested to have the case dismissed, but a court determined that it could proceed. It appears the case is still in progress as of 2024, and the court itself stated that the claims were "plausible." The lawsuit was also not the first relating to the sale of Squishmallows, but it's unclear how those were resolved; Kelly Toys Holdings noted that prior requests to remove the products were not honored. While there are some ways you can determine whether you're on a scam website , it's hard to tell which sellers might be scammers. For now, however, it's safe to assume that any Squishmallows for sale on Alibaba are fakes. Along with innumerable complaints about poor-quality products, consumers have also made various claims about Alibaba's refund process. Consumer complaints to the Better Business Bureau had the recurring theme of customers not receiving refunds for faulty or returned products (or failed deliveries). Trustpilot was similar, with many one-star reviews claiming that the consumer had ordered products that never showed up, went to the wrong place, or arrived damaged. In many of these scenarios, the customers claimed they didn't get their money back at all, despite Alibaba's claims of consumer production via its payment processing protocol. Various commenters on Trustpilot also brought up the fact that when they made purchases on the retail giant's website, they paid certain fees. Then, when they returned the item because it was not in good condition or didn't meet their expectations, they didn't get all of their money back. In direct contrast with Alibaba's money-back policy, Trustpilot and BBB consumer comments show a worrying trend where people don't get their money back, even when an item arrives broken. Alibaba's policy even states that you can request a refund even if it doesn't meet the "agreed terms," though it's unclear whether that means the seller's terms or Alibaba's overall terms. Either way, consumer experiences don't tend to reflect that money-back promise. As mentioned, TrustPilot reviews sum up a range of issues with Alibaba, and there are plenty of horror stories about shopping on the platform. Despite Alibaba's (the parent company's) 4.3-star average on Trustpilot, around 11% of the reviews are one-star, while under 1% are two-star, and about 2% are three-star. Alibaba.com also has poor reviews on Trustpilot, rated "bad." The most recent reviews complain of products not arriving (despite assurances from sellers that they were being tracked and in transit), thousands of dollars of product arriving faulty but an incomplete refund being generated, and Alibaba refusing refunds despite clear photo and video evidence of damaged-on-arrival products. Mercari has similar red flags and a similar business model, with countless sellers sharing the same platform. Unfortunately for Alibaba, its sellers contribute to the brand's overall reputation, and things are not looking good. Things are similar on BBB, where Alibaba Group has a 1.15-star rating, with around 40 monthly complaints closed. Customers complained to BBB about generic responses to refund requests from Alibaba, suggesting that the company uses a script or perhaps an AI chatbot to address consumer complaints. Although Alibaba has a history of addressing complaints on the BBB website, many remain open and, apparently, unanswered. Trade Assurance is a consumer protection with Alibaba, and the e-commerce company claims that consumer purchases enjoy protection from payment to delivery. However, the policy doesn't apply to shoppers in every country, nor does it apply to every seller. The trade assurance program apparently doesn't apply to retailers that don't have a "Trade Assurance" badge, although the details don't seem very transparent. There's also the fact that the trade assurance does not seem to apply to all purchases, as the information page on Alibaba's website seems to be targeted toward businesses rather than individuals shopping for cheap clothes and goods online. The trade assurance also claims to offer after-sales protections, yet the reviews on Trustpilot and the BBB do, in part, contradict that statement. On the other hand, the 79% of Trustpilot reviews that gave the company five stars seemed thrilled with their purchases, although the dozen or so that I skimmed through did not mention a specific product in their glowing review of the site and its sellers. Alibaba's website also flagged my multiple visits to its policy pages, requiring me to solve a CAPTCHA-type puzzle before I could keep reading. While that on its own isn't necessarily problematic, it doesn't make the retailer seem any more friendly to prospective or existing shoppers. Beyond customer reviews, online forums like Reddit, and the couple of court cases in which Alibaba is involved, it's hard to find anywhere that it has addressed criticism of its online shopping platform. In fact, Harvard Business Review published a piece by Ming Zeng (former manager and current chairperson) that called Alibaba an "innovative digital giant," praised its business practices, and neglected to mention any of the negative customer feedback that can be found online in a quick Google search. This juxtaposition is one of the things that makes Alibaba seem shady. From addressing consumer skepticism over its legitimacy to having one of its figureheads promote it in HBR (did someone from the corporation have to sign off on that article?), Alibaba seems to want to make a good impression. On the other hand, not addressing complaints on review sites and, apparently, not following its own policies go against that goal. Plus, the HBR piece focuses solely on the company's "innovative" processes and how it handles all its inventory and customer processes on a massive scale. What it doesn't address is the customer experience or any feedback the company has received. Like other "fast" online companies such as Temu, Shein, and more, it seems that Alibaba might be more focused on its bottom line (and perhaps defending itself in court) than it is about ensuring that consumers have a positive experience. In the U.S., it's remarkably common for brands to grow to global fame with their founders as the recognizable face of the company. From Amazon and Facebook to Apple and Microsoft, we know who the bigwigs are and what they do. While the public might not love their local billionaires, they do appreciate their business offerings, and these people are generally accepted if not beloved, public figures. In contrast, Alibaba's co-founder does not have a good relationship with the public or the company's country of origin. Jack Ma, who founded Alibaba, criticized regulators and the Chinese financial system. That led to him losing money — the loss was said to be more than half of his wealth — disappearing from public view, and according to some perspectives, putting Alibaba in jeopardy. If Ma lost $4.1 billion in a single year, as CNN reported he did, how much did Alibaba lose or stand to lose? With the founder of the company being under fire from his government, it doesn't seem like that's a great public relations move for Alibaba, and it makes the company seem even shadier. It's not inherently suspicious for a company to own more than one type of business. Given the claims of monopolistic activities on the part of Alibaba, it may be worth taking a closer look at the conglomerate. Alibaba owns various companies — from cloud computing to healthcare to media entities — thus it's easier to understand why the parent company was sued for supporting a monopoly. It would make sense if Alibaba used its own proprietary technology and products to run its various businesses, interlinking them and, potentially, creating even more wealth. Yet, it's hard to know whether to trust articles in the South China Morning Post about the company, given that Alibaba Group also owns it, and the same applies when it comes to utilizing other subsidiaries of Alibaba's parent company. Of course, if the real question is whether it's safe to order from Alibaba, despite its potentially shady dealings, the answer is it depends — so shop at your own risk.If the developments of this past week simply amount to the loss of two players, Air Force football will recover. If this hints at a trend, the program could be in trouble from a competitive standpoint. A pair of sophomore defenders – OLB David Santiago and DB Lincoln Tuioti-Mariner – announced their plans to jump into the transfer portal when it opens Monday. This doesn’t necessarily mean they are leaving, but that’s generally the outcome. This isn’t new. In the most recent cycle there were 3,843 names in the FBS portal, including several from Air Force. More than a fifth of FBS rosters were made up of transfers. So what makes this scenario different and concerning? It’s because teams other than the service academies can replace players lost to the portal with incoming transfers, and this is Air Force losing a different kind of player to that one-way road in a way that could lead to a detrimental cycle. The players the Falcons generally lose to the portal are those leaving after seeing their path to playing time being blocked. Santiago and Tuioti-Mariner had proven themselves as key players and then left, and that rarely happens for Air Force football. Over the past 20 years, the most prominent cases of Falcons losing young, established players were linebacker Anthony Schlagel, who left for Ohio State after his sophomore year, and slot receiver Micah Davis, who has since played for Utah State and Ole Miss. Cadets can leave a service academy prior to the start of their junior year, so Air Force need only worry about losing players up to that point and, in football, has obviously been successful in guarding against that. Part of that is sophomores are generally unlikely to rise to prominence in coach Troy Calhoun’s program, but that’s not always the case. Over the past decade an impressive all-sophomore Air Force team could be constructed that would include safeties Weston Steelhammer and Trey Taylor, running backs Jacobi Owens, Timothy McVey and Brad Roberts and defensive linemen Alex Hansen and Ryan Watson. The list could go on. The Falcons get some help as many of their players possess size or skill sets unique to their system’s needs – particularly on the offensive side – that wouldn’t fetch as much demand on the open market. Maybe more than anything, the structure of the academy helps insulate it against cadets wanting to leave during the second year. If you’ve made it through basic training, recognition, survival training and at least three semesters packed with 18-plus strenuous credit hours, you’ve got skin in the game. But now, leaving is easier and has its own incentives. Starting in 2021, NCAA Division-I athletes could transfer without sitting out a year. That’s what initially led to the spike in transfers. Now, as NIL opportunities evolve, the promise of quick cash is an ever-present lure. In theory, this won’t hit hard for the academies because they’ve never routinely competed for the kind of recruits who draw significant NIL packages. But that will become a problem if teams outside the Power Conferences can offer more and more money, and if the Falcons can develop talent in their sophomore and freshmen classes. Maybe these are simply cases of Santiago and Tuioti-Mariner being undervalued as recruits and once they made their way onto the field it became apparent that needed to be corrected. So, what can be done? Air Force already goes out of its way to shield younger players, keeping many off the roster and not allowing sophomores or freshmen to speak with media. Limiting playing time for sophomores isn't on the table, as Calhoun has been adamant that he will use the players in any given week. It might seem like recruiting players who particularly desire military life and seem more loyal to the academy would be an answer, but that’s already happening. And circumstances can change. How could anyone possibly know how someone might react when they develop athletically and are suddenly presented with an attractive offer that comes without the demands of a service academy? Perhaps no Air Force program does a better job of finding all-in players than coach Mike Kazlausky’s baseball team, which routinely sends most of its players to pilot training, special forces or graduate school. And even that team has seen players leave for LSU, Vanderbilt and Xavier in the past three years, even as the Falcons have risen to winning regular-season and Mountain West Tournament titles. By the way, that LSU transfer was Paul Skenes, who has since rocketed to the top of his profession as the NL All-Star Game starter and Rookie of the Year. His example underscores the point that sometimes Air Force grabs an athlete who is able to tap into an upside that sends them on a trajectory that outshoots their station, and maybe Santiago and Tuioti-Mariner will prove they fall under a version of that. It’s not as though Air Force football doesn’t already stress loyalty by example. Only three coaches nationally have been in their position longer than Calhoun, who is an Air Force graduate, and his staff is loaded with grads. A look at the state of service academy football shows it remains healthy. Army just won the American Athletic Conference and, at 11-1, is making its case for a College Football Playoff berth. Navy is 8-3 and spent time in Top 25 this season. Air Force averaged 10 wins over the past four full seasons and, though ravaged by inexperience and injuries this year, managed to rebound with four consecutive wins and finish one victory shy of bowl eligibility. There isn’t a crisis by any means. Yet. If you want to see where this could lead, however, simply look at Air Force men’s basketball. From Tre’ Coggins to Matt Mooney through Jake Heidbreder and Rytis Petraitis, the Falcons have routinely seen key players depart over the past decade and have struggled as a result. Again, this is just two players. But the framework of college athletics is set up in such a way to turn this into something far worse for Air Force. And Calhoun is well aware of it. “Let’s be real, if there were 32 teams in the NFL and 31 of them were able to bring in free agents and one wasn’t ... if you were that one, you would like to have that field a little bit level,” Calhoun said in August. “But it’s not.” Air Force has lost players before and thrived. Injuries and academy-related issues pop up, someone else steps in and the system rolls on. As good as Santiago and Tuioti-Mariner are, this doesn’t have to be any different. But as this season showed, nothing can be assumed. Sometimes inexperience means turning to younger players and enduring growing pains. And if this begins a cycle where those who sprout quickly through that process are suddenly transplanted elsewhere, then when does the harvest arrive? Doomsday isn’t here. But if a day comes where Air Force and its service academy brethren can no longer regularly be competitive, it’s likely to stem from issues that began by looking an awful lot like this.
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — Alvaro Folgueiras scored 27 points as Robert Morris beat Saint Francis (PA) 90-77 on Saturday. Folgueiras added 16 rebounds, four steals, and three blocks for the Colonials (8-5). Kam Woods added 19 points while shooting 7 for 16 (2 for 6 from 3-point range) and 3 of 7 from the free-throw line while he also had seven assists and three steals. Amarion Dickerson had 16 points and shot 5 of 8 from the field and 5 for 7 from the line. The Red Flash (3-9) were led in scoring by Riley Parker, who finished with 21 points. Saint Francis also got 19 points and three steals from Juan Cranford Jr.. Valentino Pinedo had 14 points. The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar .Eric Trump's call for the U.S. to lead the way in the cryptocurrency space comes at a time when other countries, such as China and El Salvador, have already taken steps to adopt digital currencies as legal tender. He warned that failing to keep pace with global developments in the crypto market could result in the U.S. falling behind in the race for economic competitiveness and financial innovation.Amazon India is racing to launch its quick commerce delivery service, codenamed Tez, by late December or early next year as it looks to join the booming sector that notched up gross sales of about $5.5-6 billion this month led by Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart, multiple people aware of the details told ET. Earlier, the US giant was aiming to roll out the service in the first quarter of 2025 but is now keen to accelerate the process, they added. More so, as it is the only large ecommerce firm without a presence in what is India’s fastest growing online business. The launch of Tez in India—which is only a working title for the proposed business—will mark Amazon’s first foray into the quick commerce business globally. According to people briefed on the plans, the matter will be discussed in the next monthly review slated for the first week of December—ahead of its annual Smbhav event. 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Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories The ecommerce firm is also making fresh hires for the high-priority project in addition to having a core team of employees working on it. Amazon’s India grocery and essentials team described the project as a ‘greenfield, grounds-up initiative for an upcoming and fast-growing ecommerce space in India’, according to a job post. The final name for the quick commerce service is yet to be decided, sources added. ET first reported about Amazon’s plans on a quick commerce offering in its edition of August 28. “They (Amazon) want to launch it sooner than the end of first quarter in India. Quick commerce is where all the action is if you are a meaningful consumer internet platform. They are also following the same model as others—setting up dark stores, figuring out the details of stock-keeping units (SKUs) and categories, and putting logistics infrastructure in place,” another person aware of the matter said. The company is expected to start the service with groceries and daily essentials. An email sent to Amazon India did not elicit any response till press time Sunday. While Amazon India has its own delivery network in India, it has also engaged with other logistics players for quick delivery services. ETtech Quick moves Flipkart—Amazon’s arch-rival in India—launched its quick service, Minutes , before the start of this year’s festive season sales during September-October and has since scaled the service in major cities. Also in the fray is Tata-owned BigBasket, which has made a shift to the quick model, and has clocked over Rs 900 crore in gross sales last month, people in the know said. Meanwhile, Tata Digital—which runs Tata Neu—has also rolled out its own quick commerce service Neu Flash , which was first reported by ET on October 28. Amazon had discussed a potential deal with Swiggy Instamart before the food delivery company listed on the bourses in early November. The rush of capital into the quick commerce sector has only added to all the platforms scaling their operations aggressively. Last week, Zepto raised another $350 million , adding to its over $1 billion cash-pile while Zomato , parent of Blinkit, has also secured shareholder nod to raise another $1 billion through QIP. “We expect the quick commerce market size to overtake that of food delivery in 2026 in terms of gross order value (GOV). Given a larger addressable market, despite high competition, we see scope for each player to grow materially over the next 3-5 years. The challenge of growth and market share loss comes when the overall market itself has matured,” Morgan Stanley said in a note earlier this month on quick commerce and Zomato-Blinkit. “Overall download share of quick commerce apps has increased in the last 6 and 12 months relative to ecommerce apps, as per third party data,” it said. The report estimated a bear and bull case for the quick commerce market at $25 billion and $55 billion, respectively, by 2030. The projections indicate a similar rise in key metrics like households using ultra-fast delivery, monthly transacting users and their frequency of quick orders. Quick commerce is expected to be just under $7 billion in size for 2024. “In our assumptions, we have assumed that high frequency or high value users would increase from one third to almost half of the total platform and they would account for almost 75-80% of the total value of the business by 2030,” the Morgan Stanley note added on its outlook for 10-30 minute delivery services. Amazon India changes Meanwhile, Amazon India has seen a change of guard at the top with company veteran Samir Kumar taking over the India head role following Manish Tiwary’s exit . The local arm of the US firm is also moving its Bengaluru headquarters in January closer to the airport in the city where the total rent outgo will be less. This is in line with the broader changes in Amazon India where it is looking to curtail costs at various operating metrics. Walmart-owned Flipkart continues to be the market leader in the ecommerce sector besides others like Meesho, Tata Neu and Reliance JioMart also operating in the sector. In FY24, Amazon’s India marketplace unit posted a 14% jump in operating revenue at Rs 25,406 crore while also cutting losses by 28% during the year to Rs 3,469 crore. While this is higher than the 3% revenue increase in FY23, it still lagged growth rates seen during the pandemic period, when revenue grew by 32% and 49% in FY22 and FY21 respectively. Its other India units—payments, transportation— saw a modest 7-9% revenue growth while there was a marginal dip in its wholesale business.
As the German Railway Freight Company embarks on this journey of transformation, it remains committed to upholding its core values of safety, reliability, and customer service. The company recognizes the importance of its employees in delivering on these values, and is dedicated to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment for its remaining staff.Amazon and Starbucks workers are on strike. Trump might have something to do with it Amazon delivery drivers and Starbucks baristas are on strike in a handful of U.S. cities as they seek to exert pressure on the two major companies to recognize them as unionized employees or to meet demands for an inaugural labor contract. Strikes during busy periods like the holidays can help unions exercise leverage during negotiations or garner support from sympathetic consumers. One expert says he thinks workers at both companies are “desperate” to make progress before President-elect Donald Trump can appoint a Republican majority to the National Labor Relations Board. Workers at Starbucks, Amazon and some other prominent consumer brands are fighting for their first contracts after several locations voted to unionize. Bluesky finds with growth comes growing pains — and bots Bluesky has seen its user base soar since the U.S. presidential election, boosted by people seeking refuge from Elon Musk’s X, or wanting an alternative to Meta’s Threads and its algorithms. The platform grew out of the company then known as Twitter and was eventually intended to replace it. While this is still very much a pie in the sky, Bluesky’s growth trajectory could make it a serious competitor to other social platforms. With growth, though, comes growing pains. It’s not just human users who’ve been flocking to Bluesky but also bots, including those designed to create partisan division or direct users to junk websites. Party City to close its stores as company files for bankruptcy LOS ANGELES (AP) — Party City announced that it's going to “wind down” its retail and wholesale operations as it prepares to shutter nearly 700 stores nationwide. The company said Saturday it has also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "to maximize value for the benefit of the company’s stakeholders.” The New Jersey-based retailer said it will keep more than 95% of its 12,000 employees to help with the process of closing down. Customers have flocked to Party City for Halloween costumes, favors for children’s birthday parties and decorations for New Year’s Eve celebrations for nearly 40 years. It has faced growing competition from Walmart and Target and from occasion-based pop-up stores such as Spirit Halloween. A million taxpayers will soon receive up to $1,400 from the IRS. Who are they and why now? Approximately 1 million taxpayers will automatically receive special payments of up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The money will be directly deposited into eligible people’s bank accounts or sent in the mail by a paper check. Most people shouldn't get their hopes up about receiving the cash. The IRS says it’s distributing about $2.4 billion to taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns after missing one of the COVID stimulus payments or receiving less than the full amount. The IRS says most taxpayers eligible for the federal stimulus payments received them. 'Sonic 3' bests 'Mufasa: The Lion King' at the box office NEW YORK (AP) — In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures’ “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” sped past the Walt Disney Co.’s “Mufasa: The Lion King” to take the top spot at the box office. The results came just ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters. According to studio estimates, “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend. “Mufasa,” however, was humbled in its opening weekend, coming in notably shy of expectations. It returned just $35 million in domestic ticket sales. Farmers are still reeling months after Hurricane Helene ravaged crops across the South LYONS, Ga. (AP) — Farmers in Georgia are still reeling more than two months after Hurricane Helene blew away cotton, destroyed ripened squash and cucumbers and uprooted pecan trees and timber. Agribusinesses in other Southern states saw costly damage as well. The University of Georgia estimates the September storm inflicted $5.5 billion in direct losses and indirect costs in Georgia alone. In rural Toombs County, Chris Hopkins just finished harvesting his ravaged cotton crop and figures he lost half of it, costing him about $430,000. Poultry grower Jeffrey Pridgen in Georgia's Coffee County had four of his 12 chicken houses destroyed and others badly damaged. Farmers say more government disaster assistance is needed. Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI’s strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products. But he grew disillusioned with the company and told The Associated Press this fall he would “try to testify” in copyright infringement cases against it. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures eased last month WASHINGTON (AP) — An inflation gauge that is closely watched by the Federal Reserve barely rose last month in a sign that price pressures cooled after two months of sharp gains. Prices rose just 0.1% from October to November. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, prices also ticked up just 0.1%, after two months of outsize 0.3% gains. The milder inflation figures arrived two days after Federal Reserve officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, rocked financial markets by revealing that they now expect to cut their key interest rate just two times in 2025, down from four in their previous estimate. Albania to close TikTok for a year blaming it for promoting violence among children TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Albania’s prime minister says the government will shut down video service TikTok for one year, blaming it for inciting violence and bullying, especially among children. Albanian authorities held 1,300 meetings with teachers and parents following the stabbing death of a teenager in mid-November by another teenager following a quarrel that started on TikTok. Prime Minister Edi Rama, speaking at a meeting with teachers and parents, said TikTok “would be fully closed for all. ... There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania.” Rama says the ban will begin sometime next year. Albanian children comprise the largest group of TikTok users in the country, according to domestic researchers. Stock market today: Wall Street rises to turn a dismal week into just a bad one NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose to turn what would have been one of the market’s worst weeks of the year into just a pretty bad one. The S&P 500 rallied 1.1% Friday to shave its loss for the week down to 2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped nearly 500 points, and the Nasdaq composite gained 1%. A report said a measure of inflation the Federal Reserve likes to use was slightly lower last month than expected. It’s an encouraging signal after the Fed shocked markets Wednesday by saying worries about inflation could keep it from cutting interest rates in 2025 as much as earlier thought.
Arsenal defender Gabriel kept Viktor Gyokeres quiet — then had the audacity to steal the in-demand Sporting Lisbon striker's trademark goal celebration. After heading in Arsenal's third first-half goal in the Champions League on Tuesday, Gabriel linked the fingers of his hands and placed them over his eyes, before laughing with his teammates. It was most likely a dig at Gyokeres, the Sweden striker who has quickly become one of European soccer's hottest properties . Because that is how Gyokeres celebrates his goals. “It's fun that he likes my celebration,” Gyokeres told Viaplay after the match. “He can steal it if he cannot come up with his own.” Gyokeres has scored 24 goals for Sporting in all competitions and was coming off netting four for Sweden in a Nations League match against Azerbaijan. Earlier in the first half, Gabriel had enjoyed tackling and dispossessing Gyokeres near the Arsenal area — waving both his arms in a gesture to the crowd. Gabriel's goal made it 3-0 to Arsenal at halftime and the English team went on to win 5-1, with Gyokeres failing to score. He did hit the post with a shot late in the game, however — after Gabriel had gone off with an injury. “Today he wasn't that dangerous,” Arsenal striker Kai Havertz said of Gyokeres, “but I think it's because we defended very well.” AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
6 dead in New Jersey after car flies off overpass, bursts into flamesRemains found in 1973 identified as Pennsylvania teen girl who left for school and never returned