Breaking
Bank of America Fined $1.2 Billion for Lax Money-Laundering OversightArt of Play lists bird at center of Kelly Clarkson feud for $15M | ExclusiveIn heated Georgia Senate debate, Jon Ossoff says he won’t run for president in 2028Ohtani will be in Dodgers’ Game 3 NLCS lineup, Roberts saysTexas DA says ICE intentionally hit immigrant with a car and may have withheld evidenceBank of America Fined $1.2 Billion for Lax Money-Laundering OversightArt of Play lists bird at center of Kelly Clarkson feud for $15M | ExclusiveIn heated Georgia Senate debate, Jon Ossoff says he won’t run for president in 2028Ohtani will be in Dodgers’ Game 3 NLCS lineup, Roberts saysTexas DA says ICE intentionally hit immigrant with a car and may have withheld evidence
Advertisement
Transportation

Portugal begins construction of its first high speed line

PORTUGAL: Construction of Portugal’s first high speed line was formally launched with a ceremony on October 12. Diogo Ferreira Nunes reports from Aveiro. The north-south high speed rail corridor linking Porto Campanhã station with Lisboa Oriente, 290 km to the south, is to be built in three phases. The double-track line will largely be built on a dedicated alignment using Iberia’s 1 668 mm gauge to allow easy integration with the conventional rail network. The route is being designed for operation at up to 300 km/h. First section of line The first section of the high speed line will run over a 71 km section from Porto to Oiã, near Aveiro. It is being built by the AVAN consortium (previously known as LusoLav), which is led by Mota-Engil and includes Teixeira Duarte, Alves Ribeiro, Casais, Conduril and Gabriel Couto. Construction will involve 4 000 workers, with completion planned by the end of 2030 to enable the section to open in 2031. It will include eight tunnels and 15 viaducts, including a road and rail bridge across the River Douro. The line will pass below the town of Vila Nova de Gaia in a tunnel, where a station with 405 m long platforms will be located 60 m below the city centre. This station will offer connections to Metro do Porto’s Yellow Line and the future Rubi Line, and will have two above-ground office buildings on the northern and southern sides as well as 475 parking spaces. PPP concession The first section is being developed under a 30-year public-private partnership concession with a total budget of €2.651bn, of which only €628m is to be provided by the state. The AVAN consortium members are investing €165m in the project, and a syndicate of 13 commercial and institutional lenders is lending €1bn for 25 to 28 years. The European Investment Bank is providing a 28-year loan of €844m, and the EU is contributing €450m from the Connecting Europe Facility. There is also mezzanine funding of €52m. ‘The Portuguese PPP model here for Lisboa – Porto is undoubtedly one of the best practices that we want to bring forward in the future’, said Philippe Chantraine, head of the transport investment unit at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport, at the groundbreaking ceremony. ‘This approach enables continued infrastructure development and strategic investments in the structural foundations of the economy while minimising reliance on public funds, limiting pressure on budgets and avoiding additional public debt burdens.’ Next sections National operator CP has prequalified Alstom and Talgo for a contract to supply 12 high speed trains, and expects to award the contract by the end of Q1 2027. Rail infrastructure manager Infraestruturas de Portugal hopes that the second and third sections of high speed line running 60 km from Oiã to Soure near Coimbra and 130 km from Soure to Carregado near Lisboa will be completed by 2032. Once completed, the journey time from Porto to Lisboa is expected to be cut from 2 h 48 min to 1 h 20 min. See also Portugal to request use of broad gauge for Porto – Lisboa high speed line First Porto – Lisboa high speed line concession package awarded Porto – Lisboa high speed project and Rail Baltica lead latest Connecting Europe Facility grant allocations

via Railway Gazette

Most Read

  1. How National Debt Affects Freight Costs and Financing

    Transportation via FreightWaves

  2. Shippers waiting an extra week for US-bound containers

    Transportation via FreightWaves

  3. Despite new record, Port of LA chief warns of tariff-driven planning risk

    Transportation via FreightWaves

  4. Cass: TL linehaul rates up 10% in September, shipment counts remain positive

    Transportation via FreightWaves

  5. The AI Boom: Why It’s Replacing E-commerce in Global Freight

    Transportation via FreightWaves

Technology

View all →
Technology

Martin Shkreli livestreamed himself violating lifetime pharma ban, FTC says

Martin Shkreli—the ex-pharmaceutical executive infamous for illegally hiking the price of a lifesaving anti-parasitic drug by more than 4,000 percent and getting a seven-year prison sentence for the fraudulent scheme he used to do it—has been under a lifetime ban from the pharmaceutical industry since 2022. However, according to the Federal Trade Commission and the attorneys general of seven states, Shkreli has "flagrantly and repeatedly" violated that ban nearly the entire time—allegedly by trading stock in dozens of drug companies and discussing the industry during livestreams on social media. On Tuesday, the FTC and the seven states asked a federal judge to hold Shkreli in contempt for the alleged violations. The states include New York, California, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia—the same states that joined the FTC in suing Shkreli in 2020 over the "elaborate anticompetitive scheme" involving the anti-parasitic drug, Daraprim. The scheme raised the price from $17.50 per pill to $750 per pill virtually overnight, while blocking generic competitors from entering the market.Read full article Comments

via Ars Technica
Technology

Cerebras CEO pushes back on AI doomsday warnings

Cerebras CEO Andrew Feldman has a message for AI leaders spreading doomsday warnings: Maybe stop talking? At TechCrunch Disrupt, he argued that the industry's focus on AI's risks is drowning out its potential benefits.

via TechCrunch
Technology

ESA targets Anbernic emulation handhelds as “superfake” piracy enablers

For years, Chinese hardware manufacturers have carved out a market niche with an array of handheld Android gaming devices focused on retro emulation and/or more modern game-streaming capabilities. Now, though, a major game industry trade group is targeting one of those manufacturers, Anbernic, asking the US Trade Representative (USTR) to add the company to its list of "Notorious Markets" that "engage in or facilitate substantial copyright piracy or trademark counterfeiting." TorrentFreak was among the first to notice the request from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which was submitted to the USTR last week. In it, the US trade group—which represents major publishers including Nintendo, Microsoft, PlayStation, Amazon, Epic, EA, Ubisoft, and more—notes that Anbernic devices "are routinely offered or shipped with removable memory cards preloaded with hundreds or thousands of unauthorized copies of copyright-protected video games published by ESA members." While many online sellers do include an SD card full of ROMs alongside emulation hardware of all types, Anbernic itself does not appear to do the same when selling directly from its website. Regardless, the ESA argues that these ROM-laden Anbernic devices selling through "normal retail channels" help to "normalize hardware-based piracy by delivering illicit catalogues through a polished consumer product." This, the ESA says, meets the threshold for a "superfake," an ill-defined designation that applies to "high-quality counterfeit trademark goods ... on a commercial scale."Read full article Comments

via Ars Technica

Transportation

View all →
Transportation

Samsara makes AI agent platform generally available, reports 7x adoption growth

Samsara has made its Agent Studio platform generally available to all customers, opening its no-code AI agent builder to fleets and other businesses using its software. Samsara is recording AI-agent interactions about seven times faster than when it launched the tools in June, with its latest 500,000 interactions accumulating in 16 days, down from 112 days initially. Samsara measures AI agent adoption by the number of interactions, which it defines as a complete agent session through chat or voice. Voice agents surpassed chat in interaction volume within four weeks of launch and have led every week since, Samsara said. Most voice interactions to date have been calls initiated by agents and configured by the organizations using them, Samsara said. The company said more than 1,000 organizations use Samsara agents weekly, but did not specify how many organizations use voice agents specifically. Samsara launched Agent Studio in June, but has now made it available to all customers on Tuesday. The platform lets customers build custom AI agents using operational data to perform tasks such as compiling reports, flagging potential hours-of-service violations and answering drivers’ questions based on company policies. The company did not disclose how many customers are using agents in production or how many have built custom agents. Agent Studio is included in existing Samsara subscriptions, the company noted. The announcement comes as logistics companies work to move AI projects beyond pilot programs and demonstrate financial returns. A March 2026 Boston Consulting Group survey of more than 180 logistics providers and shippers found that about 40% of logistics service providers had deployed AI beyond pilot programs, but only about 10% had scaled it across core operations. Just 13% reported measurable value from AI. Unclear returns on investment and gaps in internal capabilities were among the leading barriers to broader adoption. A separate September 2026 survey by Descartes found that 19% of shippers and 15% of logistics service providers were using AI at scale. The findings suggest that while AI is gaining a foothold in transportation, many companies have yet to deploy it broadly across their operations. “AI is quickly adopted when it’s useful, and in physical operations that means an agent has to understand the operation and meet people where the work happens,” said Johan Land, Samsara’s chief product officer. Samsara cited several customers using agents for reporting, compliance monitoring and driver communication. Grand Isle Shipyard uses an agent to compile forms, inspection reports and asset data into monthly reports. Samsara said the process takes about five minutes per division, cutting report-generation time by 99%. The company estimated the change frees up about $100,000 in annual specialist capacity, though it did not provide the calculation behind that figure. S. Bertram Foods uses an agent to track remaining stops, driving time and shift time to flag potential hours-of-service violations three hours in advance. Samsara said the system reduced weekly manual review time by 84%. StreamTech Industrial uses an agent to identify trips in which drivers have not logged into their vehicles. Samsara reported a reduction of 500 hours in unassigned driving over two months. The customer results were supplied by Samsara, which did not provide detailed measurement methods for all the reported outcomes. Voice agents bring AI into the cab Samsara says its voice agents can call drivers with instructions when trucks arrive at unfamiliar facilities, including information about entrances, parking, yard speed limits and required safety equipment. Drivers can ask follow-up questions, while managers can use operational data to investigate issues such as extended facility stops. Specifically, Samsara said its voice agents deploy through its dash cams and operate hands-free. The hands-free design is significant because federal rules prohibit commercial drivers from holding a phone while driving, while allowing hands-free phone use. Organizations can configure agents to activate under specified conditions, such as when a vehicle enters or exits a designated geofence. The company also offers Samsara Assistant, which lets users query operational information through its software dashboard, and Samsara MCP, which connects authorized Samsara data to external AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Microsoft Copilot. Agent Studio adds a way for customers to create custom chat and voice agents for their own workflows. For freight and logistics operators, the potential benefit is less time spent gathering information, monitoring compliance and answering routine questions. But the announcement offers limited evidence of how widely the agents are being deployed or whether the reported time savings translate into sustained financial returns. Those questions will matter as logistics companies weigh further investment in AI. Why this matters: Freight and logistics companies are looking for ways to turn AI pilots into tools that deliver measurable operational value. Samsara’s usage figures suggest growing engagement with AI agents, but the company has not disclosed how many customers have deployed them or provided detailed methods behind customer-reported efficiency gains. Those metrics will help determine whether AI agents can deliver sustained returns beyond early use cases. The post Samsara makes AI agent platform generally available, reports 7x adoption growth appeared first on FreightWaves.

via FreightWaves
Transportation

Despite new record, Port of LA chief warns of tariff-driven planning risk

The Port of Los Angeles moved 1.42 million TEUs in September, its best single month ever and the highest monthly volume ever recorded by a port in the Western Hemisphere, Executive Director Gene Seroka said this week. He said lower tariff levels, resilient consumer demand, and cargo shifting away from constrained Panama Canal and Suez routes drove the surge. Record quarter September imports totaled 546,000 loaded TEUs, up 19% year over year and 26% above the port’s five-year average. Exports rose 10% to 126,000 loaded TEUs, while the port handled a record 371,000 empty containers as carriers repositioned equipment to Asia. July through September was the port’s strongest quarter on record at nearly 3 million TEUs, and June through September moved nearly 4 million containers. Through September, 2026 volume stood at nearly 8.1 million TEUs, up about 3% from the same period in 2025. Seroka said the port expects October volume of about 900,000 TEUs. He cited typhoon-related schedule disruptions in Asia, cargo “roll pools” before China’s national holiday, and continued holiday-season replenishment as reasons volumes should remain elevated. Trade and sourcing shifts Seroka in a media briefing said Vietnam is now the port’s second-largest trading partner behind China, while Thailand has entered the port’s top five for the first time. Vietnam-origin volume through Los Angeles has quadrupled over the past decade, he said. He said China’s share of port business has fallen from 60% to 40%, but added that diversification has been slower than many importers would like. Harvard Business School Professor Willy Shih, the briefing’s guest, said companies are increasingly “optimizing for options” rather than lowest cost, because frequent policy changes make long-term commitments difficult. Shih said apparent shifts away from China often reflect changes in final assembly rather than a true reduction in upstream dependence, since Vietnam and Mexico still rely heavily on Chinese components. Building comparable supplier networks in Mexico could take about a decade, he said. Tariffs and outlook Seroka said tariffs remain a central source of uncertainty, with importers making rapid decisions based on cost, demand, and policy deadlines. He said purchase orders in Asia remain solid, but November and December are difficult to forecast. He also said ocean carriers and shippers are shifting more cargo to Los Angeles from Panama Canal routings because of drought-related constraints and higher fuel costs tied to Middle East conflict. Shorter, faster transits have become more valuable, he said. On operations, Seroka said the port is generally flowing smoothly, with truck turns healthy and large vessels turning in about four days. But he flagged rail dwell times as an area requiring close monitoring as the port moves holiday cargo inland. Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here. Read more: Shippers waiting an extra week for US-bound containers 1 million boxes set new Los Angeles port record Retailers say extended peak shipping season winding down US West Coast container rates edge lower Global container volumes hit record 17.46 million TEUs The post Despite new record, Port of LA chief warns of tariff-driven planning risk appeared first on FreightWaves.

via FreightWaves
Transportation

25,000 Drivers Lost: US-Mexico Border Crisis Explained

#fwtv_cAgy5ZdNvrI .fwtv-panel{border:1px solid #d0d0d0;padding:18px;border-radius:6px;line-height:1.6}#fwtv_cAgy5ZdNvrI .fwtv-panel p{margin:0 0 12px}#fwtv_cAgy5ZdNvrI .fwtv-note{font-style:italic;color:#666;margin-top:16px;padding-top:12px;border-top:1px solid #e0e0e0}Cross-border freight capacity is facing unprecedented challenges. With 25,000 Mexican driver visas revoked, and significant tender rejections at both the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders, rates are skyrocketing. Learn why these constraints are expected to continue well into 2027 and how it impacts your supply chain.U.S. authorities have revoked visas for roughly 25,000 Mexican truck drivers, slashing the pool of qualified operators able to haul cross-border loads and sending rejection rates and spot rates sharply higher on key southbound lanes — a supply-side squeeze that FreightWaves data show is likely to persist well into 2027. The capacity crunch is most acute at El Paso, where tender rejections peaked at roughly 24-25% in early July and still sit near 20%, according to FreightWaves SONAR. San Diego/Otay Mesa follows at about 10% rejections, up from 3.9% a year ago, while Laredo stands near 7% after briefly touching a low of 6.07% on Oct. 3 before rebounding to 7.78% by Oct. 10. The national tender rejection rate moved from 5.7% to 13.8% over the same period, underscoring that the border markets are tracking a broader tightening but have experienced outsized supply pressure. “What is driving this is Mexico — there is not so much increased demand, but there’s certainly, whether short-term or whether it will be longer-term, we’re seeing a lot of reports of driver shortages,” said Julie Van de Kamp, who presented the SONAR analysis on the Oct. 13 broadcast. “For that Mexican border, a lot of this revolves around lack of driver availability and visa revocations.” — Julie Van de Kamp Spot rates on high-volume Mexico-origin corridors reflect the tighter conditions. San Diego-to-Phoenix rates are up 57% year over year, Laredo-to-Dallas is up 43%, Laredo-to-Chicago is up 35%, and El Paso-to-Dallas is up 28%. The Mexico Contract Volume Index shows volume is relatively stable — it recovered from a sharp drop in January but has not surged — meaning the rate pressure stems from fewer available drivers rather than a demand spike. Van de Kamp cautioned that Mexican cross-border volume data carry a reporting lag. At the Canadian border, the dynamic is different: a freight imbalance rather than a driver shortage. Canadian exports remain firm, but weak northbound return freight makes it difficult for carriers to find backhauls, prompting some to avoid certain U.S. markets or demand premium pay. Rates on select Canada corridors are up 20% to 35% over the past six weeks. Canadian truckload volumes are running above year-ago levels on SONAR’s STVI index, while the Canadian rejection rate has climbed from roughly 4% to about 5.5% year over year and is expected to rise further through year-end. Van de Kamp noted the imbalance is also pushing some contract freight to spot to secure coverage, particularly in refrigerated. Across both borders, the message for shippers and brokers is consistent: demand is relatively soft, but capacity is constrained and rates are rising. FreightWaves expects the tightness to continue well into 2027, with rejections running 2 to 3 times higher than a year ago on key border lanes.US authorities have revoked B-1 visas for approximately 25,000 Mexican truck drivers, creating a driver shortage that is the primary driver of border capacity tightness.Spot rates on key U.S.-Mexico lanes are up 28% to 57% year over year, with El Paso tender rejections peaking near 25% and still hovering around 20%.Canada’s border crunch stems from a freight imbalance — strong exports but weak northbound return loads — pushing rejection rates to 5.5% and select corridor rates up 20-35% over six weeks.This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above. The post 25,000 Drivers Lost: US-Mexico Border Crisis Explained appeared first on FreightWaves.

via FreightWaves
Transportation

Canada Tariffs Are Changing Freight Strategy Fast

#fwtv_HfKrmnajQU .fwtv-panel{border:1px solid #d0d0d0;padding:18px;border-radius:6px;line-height:1.6}#fwtv_HfKrmnajQU .fwtv-panel p{margin:0 0 12px}#fwtv_HfKrmnajQU .fwtv-note{font-style:italic;color:#666;margin-top:16px;padding-top:12px;border-top:1px solid #e0e0e0}Canada-US trade tension is forcing fast changes in cross-border logistics. James Edge breaks down how importers, exporters and retailers are handling tariffs, shifting demand and new data requirements. In this FreightWaves conversation, Edge explains the real operator playbook: split U.S. and Canadian fulfillment, add warehouse capacity inside Canada, and stay ahead of changing customs rules. If you move freight across the border, this is the practical takeaway. #CrossBorder #CanadaTrade #TariffsRapidly shifting U.S.-Canada tariffs are compelling importers and exporters to restructure their warehouse networks and sourcing strategies, according to James Edge, CEO of Cross Border at Bnode and chairperson at Landmark Global. Edge, who works daily with retailers moving goods across the U.S.-Canada border, said the unpredictability of policy changes — not the tariffs themselves — has been the hardest element to manage in 2025. Edge offered a concrete example of how shippers are adapting: a client that had planned to serve both U.S. and Canadian customers from a single U.S. warehouse was forced to change course when tariffs hit. “We helped them set up a second Canadian warehouse,” Edge said, explaining that bulk importing into Canada lowers the effective tariff on individual orders. The client now fulfills Canadian orders domestically and U.S. orders from the American facility — a dual-node model Edge said many others are replicating. “If an additional tariff means $5 extra, is that all of your margin, or do you have some room to play? That’s the math that’s going on.” — James Edge, CEO of Cross Border at Bnode Beyond warehousing, Edge said sourcing flexibility has become critical. Brands heavily reliant on Chinese manufacturing are evaluating alternatives in Vietnam, Turkey, and Bangladesh to reduce tariff exposure. He added that retailers must also maintain rigorous data hygiene — including country of origin and product identifiers — because compliance requirements are shifting alongside tariff policy. “The changing tariffs and the management of those tariffs makes it difficult to do that cross-border shipment,” he said. Canadian consumer sentiment is adding another layer of pressure. Edge noted that Canadian television is running commercials promoting domestic buying alternatives, which is dampening demand for U.S.-origin goods shipped northbound. He described the surge in Canadian nationalism as a new phenomenon: “It takes a lot to get the Canadians riled,” he said, calling the degree of friction between the two countries unprecedented in his experience. On the technology front, Edge said artificial intelligence is already improving customs classification accuracy, with AI-assisted systems now achieving success rates “in the upper 90s” compared to roughly 80% with earlier machine-learning tools. However, he cautioned that the physical clearance process — including direct interaction with government agencies — remains firmly in human hands. Errors in customs documentation can result in delayed or seized shipments, raising the stakes for any over-reliance on automation. Looking ahead, Edge said he expects tariff volatility to gradually stabilize into something more manageable, even if final rates remain higher than most importers would prefer. The geopolitical dimension, he acknowledged, is harder to forecast. His top advice for brands bracing for the next policy shift: get product data — origin, materials composition, classification — fully in order, and align with logistics partners who can navigate compliance requirements in real time.Importers are splitting inventory into dual U.S.-Canada warehouse networks to reduce per-order tariff impact on Canadian fulfillment.AI-assisted customs classification now reaches accuracy rates in the upper 90s, up from roughly 80% with earlier machine-learning tools, but human oversight of physical clearance remains essential.Rising Canadian nationalism and ‘buy Canadian’ campaigns are suppressing northbound cross-border demand, adding a sentiment risk on top of tariff and compliance pressures.This Summary is generated thanks to a transcription of the interview, for the full interview please enjoy the video above. The post Canada Tariffs Are Changing Freight Strategy Fast appeared first on FreightWaves.

via FreightWaves

Science

View all →
Science

Black women in food industries face systemic roadblocks

Lilly Jan was perplexed and a little annoyed. Last year, Jan, an assistant teaching professor in the Cornell Nolan School of Hotel Administration in the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, was trying to collect information on food industry businesses owned by Black women.

via Phys.org
Science

Ultrashort laser pulses offer a new way to probe electrons’ quantum geometry

Researchers at Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the University of Regensburg have developed a method for determining, using light, a quantum property of electrons that has hitherto been difficult to access. The focus is on what is known as Berry curvature—a quantity that describes certain geometric properties of the quantum mechanical states of electrons. The researchers measured it in a layer of the semiconductor tungsten diselenide, just one atomic layer thick, using ultrashort laser pulses. The results have been published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Photonics.

via Phys.org

Cricket

View all →
Cricket

Steenkamp’s brilliant 102 leads Namibia to six-wicket win against USA Staff Reporter NAMIBIA defeated the United States by six wickets in Dallas, successfully chasing down a target of 278 with nine balls to spare to finish the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2

Steenkamp’s brilliant 102 leads Namibia to six-wicket win against USA Staff Reporter NAMIBIA defeated the United States by six wickets in Dallas, successfully chasing down a target of 278 with nine balls to spare to finish the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Instagram

via Google News Cricket
Cricket

USA post 277 as Namibia face tough chase in Dallas Staff Reporter NAMIBIA will need 278 runs to defeat the United States in the final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Tri-Nation Series in Dallas after the USA posted 277/7 in their 50 overs today.

USA post 277 as Namibia face tough chase in Dallas Staff Reporter NAMIBIA will need 278 runs to defeat the United States in the final match of the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2 Tri-Nation Series in Dallas after the USA posted 277/7 in their 50 overs today. Instagram

via Google News Cricket

White Paper

View all →