#global-availability

#global-availability

Williams Companies will break ground on the Northeast Supply Enhancement pipeline, the first new pipeline in New York in over a decade, expanding its Transco natural gas network.

"We worked hard," WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said, adding that the US and Brazil in particular "need more time" to work out their differences over the agreement to impose levies on cross-border online orders.

"Transportation costs are a big factor there. Every company that is involved and has logistics and they have to pay for gas, either they have to absorb this cost, or they will charge the third party that will provide this service. I'm not surprised this is happening, because at some point, Amazon will say we cannot absorb all this cost."

Weak performance in several service sectors offset gains in retail and wholesale trade, reinforcing concerns about the pace of economic recovery. Japan relies heavily on oil imports from the Middle East, making it particularly sensitive to disruptions in the region.

Companies enter new markets with momentum. Press coverage looks promising. Campaigns launch on schedule. Local teams are hired. Early dashboards suggest traction. Then progress slows. Customer interest plateaus. Partnerships take longer than expected. Internally, the conversation almost always turns to execution. Messaging must not be clear enough. The market probably needs more education. What I have learned is that this conclusion is usually wrong. What looks like market resistance is more often a signal that the brand is communicating from the wrong position.

Panama Ports Company (PPC), part of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchison, said the Panamanian government acted in disregard for the rule of law. It decried what it called the latest steps to invade and take the property of PPC during a search on Thursday. It also accused authorities of entering a private storage site without notice and ignoring requests to safeguard sensitive corporate data.

Consider this snapshot of the near future: You're in a taxi on the other side of the world. You pay your driver with the same digital wallet you use at home, and he receives the money in his wallet linked to the local instant payments network. He's set a rule in his bank app-"send 30% of every payout to my family back home"-and funds are converted immediately to a third currency and delivered to relatives in a country thousands of miles away.

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The European Commission has launched a new antitrust probe into Google, expanding its long-running scrutiny of the tech giant's advertising practices. Regulators suspect the company may be manipulating the pricing of its search ad auctions, potentially inflating clearing prices "to the detriment of advertisers," according to a February 9 letter sent to affected businesses and seen by Bloomberg. The investigation marks the latest in a series of EU actions against Google,

Amidst this trend, , a platform for buying and selling digital businesses, is rewriting the script and dismantling those barriers. Under the leadership of CEO Blake Hutchison, the company has connected buyers and sellers across continents, linguistic differences, and price points, closing deals from $100,000 up to $10 million. Now, with the launch of its AI-powered multi-language Deal Room, Flippa is addressing what it sees as one of the last major points of disadvantage in global business deals and M&A, calling it the "Language Tax."

Digital procurement has transformed how businesses find, evaluate and manage suppliers. Platforms are faster, data is cleaner, and decision making is more informed than ever before. Yet for all the efficiency digital tools bring, procurement still relies heavily on one timeless ingredient: human connection. Bridging the gap between digital procurement and real world supplier engagement is where the strongest partnerships are built.

Statistics from the 2025 holiday shopping season clearly show that AI is playing a huge role in how people shop. But new research from retail payment platform Adyen found that many consumers are ready for AI to become their personal shopper. Just over half-51%-said they're open to letting AI take over the entire shopping process, including making final purchases. Millennials are the most willing to let agents do their shopping, with nearly three in five saying they are ready for such a shift.

The technology underpinning retail operations is under scrutiny in 2026 as fashion executives look to streamline systems with the aim to unlock efficiency, cut costs and meet consumer expectations for speed and personalisation in the shopping journey. At the retail event Lightspeed Edge on 12 January, Lightspeed - the unified point-of-sale (POS) and payments platform for SMEs such as Apricot Lane Boutique and Neal's Yard Remedies - convened industry leaders to explore the strategic imperative for integrated technology ecosystems over siloed systems.

Global-E posted $220.8 million in revenue, up 25.5% year-over-year, with gross margins at 45.1%. The company generated $13.2 million in net income, but profit margin remained razor-thin at 0.83%. Operating margin reached 7.7%, showing the business model works operationally, but capital efficiency remains a problem. Return on equity sits at just 0.81%, meaning the company barely generates returns on deployed capital. That's the core issue Wall Street keeps circling back to.