Casey’s Built Its Brand on Pizza. Now It’s Chasing Chicken Wings.
Casey’s General Stores announced it will extend its chicken wing line to all 2,900+ locations over the next two years, following a successful pilot that began in Des Moines in January 2025. The wing rollout now covers more than 550 stores and has helped lift inside sales 14% year‑over‑year, with prepared‑food sales up over 4% and margins exceeding 58%. Wings complement Casey’s core pizza offering and are driving higher visit frequency among customers. Prices are set at $7.99 for an eight‑piece order, positioned against competitors.
Patients Lose Out From Blind Spot in NHS Staff Survey
The Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) is urging the NHS to add agency workers to its annual Staff Survey, highlighting a critical blind spot that excludes a sizable portion of the workforce. While the survey recently expanded to include Bank‑only...
SAVE THE DATE: Stockholm Customs Day, Wednesday 25 March 2026 at 9:00am
Baker McKenzie will host a Stockholm Customs Day on 25 March 2026 at 9 am, targeting customs, trade compliance professionals and legal counsel. The half‑day, in‑person event features speakers from the firm’s Stockholm office and other global locations. The agenda covers the latest...
Eurobites: Openreach Trials Fiber-Based Leak-Detection System
Openreach’s three‑month trial of a distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) system turned its fibre‑broadband network into a leak‑detection array, preventing the loss of 2 megalitres of water. In parallel, Antevia Networks partnered with Benetel to deliver a plug‑and‑play outdoor private‑5G solution for...
Mother’s Day Boom – UK Shoppers Forecast to Hit £18bn in 2026
Retail research by Savvy forecasts UK Mother’s Day spending to reach £18 billion in 2026, a 15% year‑on‑year increase. Participation is strong, with 65% of shoppers planning to celebrate and 88% among households with children. The trend toward premium and at‑home...
Estonian Defence Startup Frankenburg Technologies Lands €30M Series A to Scale Missile Manufacturing
Estonian defence startup Frankenburg Technologies secured a €30 million Series A round led by Plural, with participation from SmartCap, to expand missile manufacturing across Europe. The capital will fund modular, containerised production hubs in the UK and Germany, each designed to output...
RWR 2 (RUNNING WITH RIFLES 2) Announced with a Teaser Trailer
Running with Rifles, the popular top‑down tactical shooter, has announced its sequel RWR 2 with a teaser trailer. The original earned a Very Positive rating from over 14,000 Steam users, and the sequel promises a single seamless 25 km² world, new health...
John Lewis FY Sales Rise 3% as Omnichannel Strategy Drives Engagement
John Lewis reported a 3% rise in FY 2025/26 sales, reaching £4.9 bn ($6.6 bn). The growth is attributed to its customer‑focused omnichannel strategy, which blends online and physical store experiences. Ongoing investment in store upgrades underpins the strategy, aiming to boost...
Joint and Several Liability (JSL) Legislation 2026: What Recruitment Agencies Must Know
From April 2026 the UK will enforce Joint and Several Liability (JSL) legislation, expanding HMRC's ability to hold recruitment agencies financially responsible for unpaid PAYE, NICs, and other employment taxes incurred by umbrella companies. The rule shifts tax risk from...
Splunk, Zoom Patch Severe Vulnerabilities
Security vendors Splunk and Zoom released emergency patches this week to remediate multiple critical and high‑severity vulnerabilities across their product lines. Zoom fixed a critical privilege‑escalation flaw in Workplace for Windows and three high‑severity defects in its Windows client software....
Bridging Promise and Evidence in Psychedelic Medicine
Jacobs and colleagues present a state‑of‑the‑art review of psilocybin and MDMA‑assisted therapies, highlighting their potential for treatment‑resistant depression and PTSD. The authors emphasize the distinct, session‑based paradigm that leverages acute neurobiological changes to produce lasting clinical benefits. However, they also...
Beijing - Pyongyang Passenger Services Resume
Direct passenger rail service between Beijing and Pyongyang resumed on March 12, ending a six‑year hiatus caused by the Covid‑19 pandemic. The two‑coach addition to the K27/K28 overnight trains departs Beijing four days a week, transfers at Dandong, and continues...
Sweetgreen Wants to Be a Lifestyle Brand Again
Sweetgreen’s CEO Jonathan Neman announced a strategic pivot back to lifestyle branding, moving away from purely conversion‑driven marketing after a 13% sales decline in 2025. The chain is resetting its media mix, hiring a new agency and leveraging influencers, events,...
Research Shows Conventional Solar Arrays Can Support Livestock Grazing
A new study by the Federal Association for New Energy Industry, based on research from the University of Göttingen and the University of Cologne, examined five German solar parks over 18 months. It found that vegetation growing under and between...
Beyond the Data Center: Critical Minerals Driving AI
A Sprott report warns that 2026 marks the start of a new commodity supercycle centered on critical minerals. Geopolitical de‑globalization, energy security and the AI boom are pushing demand for metals like copper and uranium. The report highlights the Sprott...
The American Army Is Introducing a New Hand Grenade Into Service. The First Such Change Since the Vietnam War
The U.S. Army will field the new M111 hand grenade, the first major ordnance update since the Vietnam era. It replaces the asbestos‑lined MK3A2, addressing long‑standing health hazards and limited tactical flexibility. Designed for urban combat, the blast‑over‑pressure grenade reduces...
Will the Telegraph’s New Owner Curb Its Wilder Excesses – or Make Them Worse? | Jane Martinson
Axel Springer has completed a £575 million acquisition of the Telegraph Media Group, ending a three‑year ownership battle that involved foreign suitors and regulatory hurdles. CEO Mathias Döpfner, who called the paper his "north star," promises to transform the historic title...
Colon Cancer Now Leading Cause of Cancer Deaths Under 50 in US
A new American Cancer Society analysis shows colorectal cancer has become the leading cause of cancer death for Americans under 50, overtaking all other malignancies. Roughly three‑quarters of these young patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage because routine colonoscopies...
How to Not Let the Bots Ruin Your Travel Plans
Travel demand in Asia‑Pacific is surging toward pre‑pandemic levels, with an estimated 430 million more passengers expected this year. However, the sector faces a hidden crisis: ad fraud, where bots account for up to 80% of invalid traffic for travel advertisers,...
On-Demand: How a 3PL Automated to Meet New Productivity Needs for a Global CPG Leader
Howard Tenens Group partnered with Ocado Intelligent Automation to automate a global consumer‑packaged‑goods (CPG) client’s operations within a shared 3PL warehouse. The selective automation deployment was rolled out while other tenants continued unchanged, leveraging software‑driven insights to boost productivity and...
Scotland Set for Skills and Innovation Boost as £50 Million Defence Growth Deal Unveiled
The UK government has unveiled a £50 million defence growth deal for Scotland, funding two Defence Technical Excellence Colleges and £10 million for innovation facilities at the Arrol Gibb Innovation Campus and Clyde Engineering and Innovation Centre. The programme aims to create...
Frankfurt Sees Healthy Cargo Traffic in February
Frankfurt Airport handled 159,362 tonnes of cargo in February, a 4.8% year‑on‑year increase. The month followed January’s 177,270 tonnes, up 1.7% YoY, while total 2025 cargo reached 1.99 million tonnes, a 2% rise. The airport noted that after a stagnant first...
Hotel Association of Canada Re-Brands as Hotels Canada
At its annual conference, the Hotel Association of Canada announced a rebrand to Hotels Canada, unveiling a new name and visual identity. The organization now represents more than 8,300 hotels, accounting for over 300,000 jobs and $12 billion in annual government...
Traffic Fatalities Are Going Down. What Happens Next Matters.
The National Safety Council estimates traffic fatalities fell 12% in 2025, leaving roughly 37,810 deaths or 1.14 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Major cities mirrored the trend: San Francisco reported a 42% year‑over‑year drop, New York City recorded its lowest death count...
Arizona Cardiology Group to Pay $4.75M to Resolve Allegations of Unnecessary Vein Ablations
Tri‑City Cardiology, a Phoenix‑based physician group, and three doctors agreed to pay $4.75 million to settle False Claims Act allegations that they performed medically unnecessary vein ablations between 2017 and 2022. The government alleges the physicians falsified vein measurements, symptom documentation,...
Everytable Launches National Franchise Program
Everytable, the Los Angeles‑based food platform with 35 locations, announced a national franchise program aimed at single‑ and multi‑unit operators in California, Arizona and other Western markets. The model relies on a centralized commissary kitchen, allowing storefronts of 500‑1,400 sq ft to...
New FDA Guidance Could Elevate Pharma’s Biosimilar Market
The FDA issued draft guidance that could lower biosimilar testing requirements by permitting foreign comparator data, potentially cutting development costs by about half. Over 80 biosimilars have been approved in the U.S. since the first approval 11 years ago, yet...
Dominican National Sentenced to More Than Ten Years for Unlawful Reentry Into the United States and for Trafficking Fentanyl and...
Robely Eladio De Jesus Guerrero, a 38‑year‑old Dominican national, received a 125‑month federal prison term and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to unlawful reentry and distribution of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The court found he sold roughly 120 grams...
Grand Jury Indicts New York Man Charged with Federal Sexual Exploitation Crimes
A federal grand jury in Cincinnati indicted 43‑year‑old Kyle D. Lawrence of Buffalo on two charges of transporting a minor for sexual activity and transporting child pornography. The indictment follows a multi‑agency investigation that linked Lawrence to a missing Colerain,...
'German Offshore Overplanting Rule Will Drive up Costs'
A Frontier Economics study finds Germany’s 20% offshore wind over‑planting rule is economically inefficient, recommending a target of 5‑10% overall and 2.5‑5% per project. The rule, intended to lower grid‑connection costs, would instead raise overall project expenses and cause 3‑4%...
Situational Unawareness
At 1:15 a.m. EST on Feb 28, the U.S. and Israel launched massive airstrikes on Iran, prompting a flood of real‑time OSINT dashboards such as WorldView that stitch together satellite, traffic and social feeds. Built in days by an ex‑Google Maps manager...
Rakuten TV Enterprise Launches LIVE CTV Event Series
Rakuten TV Enterprise has launched LIVE, a new European event series focused on connected TV and streaming executives. The inaugural edition will take place in Madrid on March 17, gathering over 150 senior leaders from advertising, media agencies, platforms, studios...
Lotte Card Fined 9.6 Billion Won for Leaking Users’ Social Registration Numbers
South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission fined Lotte Card 9.62 billion won after a hacking attack exposed the resident registration numbers of about 450,000 customers. The breach stemmed from unauthorized access to log files in the card’s online simple‑payment system, affecting data...
Dnata on Track with New Handling Facility at Zurich
Air services provider dnata announced that construction of its new Cargo Centre at Zurich Airport is well advanced and remains on track for an early‑2027 opening. The facility will raise dnata’s freight handling capacity in Zurich by 50%, from 60,000...
Katherina Reiche and the Myth of Solar Subsidies: Why Operators Do Not Receive 7 Cents per Kilowatt-Hour in State Support
German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche plans to end feed‑in tariffs for small rooftop photovoltaic systems, prompting claims that the state saves billions by cutting a 7‑8 cent/kWh subsidy. In reality, the EEG scheme settles the difference between market prices and a...
West Asia Conflict Hits Bhilwara Textile Exports; US $86 Million–US $100 Million in Shipments Affected
The Gulf conflict is disrupting trade routes, causing Indian textile exporters to face delays and higher costs. Bhilwara, a major textile hub, now has shipments worth Rs 800‑1,000 crore (US $86‑$108 million) on hold, affecting key markets in the Gulf and Europe. Exporters cite...
Napier AI Launches Insights AI in Transaction Monitoring
Napier AI has introduced Insights AI within its transaction‑monitoring platform after rigorous testing in the FCA’s Supercharged Sandbox. The feature injects behavioural analytics and natural‑language explanations directly into alerts, cutting manual investigation time. Built on Project Theseus, the frequency‑based AI...
Venu Secures $86M in Oversubscribed Public Offering, CEO Says: ‘We Just Raised a Ton of Money.’
Venu Holding announced an $86 million oversubscribed public equity offering, selling 18.75 million shares at $4 each and adding warrants for additional purchases. The capital will fund new venues in Texas and Oklahoma, repay a $4.35 million promissory note, and support working capital....
I'm an American Who Got a Full Medical Checkup in Japan. In 4 Hours, I Learned More About My Health...
An American physician underwent a full “Ningen Dock” preventive checkup at a Tokyo hospital, completing more than 20 tests in just four hours. The $1,800 exam delivered immediate lab results and a physician consultation, contrasting sharply with the fragmented, often...
Zambia Railways Signs Locomotive Upgrade Contract
Zambia Railways (ZRL) has signed a $20 million contract with Worldwide Rail and Mining Solutions to overhaul six GT‑type 2.68 MW diesel freight locomotives, boosting fuel efficiency, reliability and extending service life. The vendor‑financed, deferred‑payment structure ties repayment to revenue generated by...
EFW to Convert A330 to Freighter for APAL
Elbe Flugzeugwerke (EFW) has secured a contract to convert an Airbus A330‑300 into a freighter for Hong Kong‑based lessor Asia Pacific Aviation Leasing Group (APAL), marking their first passenger‑to‑freighter (P2F) collaboration. The conversion will start in the second quarter of 2026...
The Longevity Industry Has a Blind Spot. MedicBite Was Built to Fix It.
MedicBite Clinic Madeira opened in Funchal as Europe’s first multidisciplinary facility dedicated to structural alignment medicine, emphasizing the link between posture and longevity. Backed by over €11.5 million in investment and the Guinness‑record‑holding Coolzoone brand, the clinic combines digital‑navigated therapies targeting...
Uzbekistan, India’s Rupa Explore Joint Knitwear Manufacturing Venture
Uzbekistan’s ambassador to India met Rupa & Company’s director to explore a joint knitwear manufacturing venture in Uzbekistan. Rupa, a $150 million annual turnover Indian apparel leader, sees the Central Asian market and CIS region as a growth frontier. The talks...
New Glenn Vs. Nova
Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket completed its first flawless propulsive landing in November 2025, cementing the company’s entry into the operational, partially reusable heavy‑lift market. The launch delivered NASA’s ESCAPADE probes and demonstrated a rapid test‑fix cycle after a failed first attempt...
How Zip Turned the Most Pressing BNPL Challenge Into a Brand Advantage
Australian BNPL firm Zip launched a new brand platform, “In You We Trust,” and the accompanying “You Trust Me?” ad campaign. The campaign puts trust front‑and‑center, humorously showing Zip repeatedly affirming confidence in customers. By making trust the core message,...
Equity Bank's Mwangi on Turning Banking Exclusion Into Opportunity
Equity Group Holdings, led by James Mwangi, has turned Africa’s banking exclusion into a growth engine, scaling from a modest building society to a $16.5 bn balance‑sheet institution. By targeting low‑income earners, small farmers and micro‑entrepreneurs, the bank now holds up...
The Strategic Imperative: Beyond Competitive Noise to Operational Alpha
The retail sector is moving past AI hype toward measurable Economic Impact, emphasizing Decision Intelligence over mere adoption. Executives are urged to focus on core business decisions, especially pricing, by shifting from low‑fidelity, commodity‑driven models to high‑fidelity, data‑rich approaches. High...
Hong Kong Authorities Arrest 8 over Alleged Insider Trading Involving Brokerages, Hedge Fund
Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption and Securities and Futures Commission arrested eight individuals, including senior executives of two brokerages and a hedge‑fund manager, in a joint “Fuse” operation targeting insider dealing. Authorities allege the executives accepted over HK$4 million in...
Box Ship Hit in Gulf as Fuel and Surcharges Spike Costs
The containership Source Blessing was hit by shrapnel 35 nautical miles north of Jebel Ali, igniting a small fire but leaving the crew unharmed. The incident marks a widening of attacks beyond the Strait of Hormuz, prompting carriers to suspend...
Introducing the Reimagined CLEAR App: Win the Day of Travel From Home to Gate
CLEAR (NYSE:YOU) unveiled a reimagined mobile app designed to streamline the entire travel journey from home to gate. The flagship "Know When to Leave" feature uses personal preferences, airport patterns, and traffic data to advise the optimal departure time. Integrated...