The Ultimate Driving Machine
Guardian: ‘It felt like bad news after bad news’: why record numbers are leaving New Zealand
Now, record numbers of people are leaving the country as cost-of-living pressures increase and residents grapple with limited job opportunities. Provisional figures from Statistics NZ show a net loss of 56,500 citizens in the year to April – up 12,000 from the previous record.
Separate figures indicated that half of those who left New Zealand recently moved to Australia. Now, experts are worrying that a grim economic picture means departing Kiwis may not come back.
“We can’t compete with the salaries in Australia,” says David Cooper, director of immigration firm Malcolm Pacific. “Some people view that New Zealand has gone backwards, and so they’re voting with their feet.”
I find this surprising.
Guardian: Pepsi lost the cola wars to Coke. Why is it struggling to hold on to second place?
This month, the astonishing news broke that, after more than a century of pitched battle — including ad skirmishes, frantic marketing, and taste tests on both Earth and in space — the cola wars were officially over. Coca-Cola had always been the winner, but its longtime rival, Pepsi, was no longer No 2. Instead, a new challenger had climbed into second place: Dr Pepper.
The coup de grace was delivered by Beverage Digest, an Atlanta-based trade publication that, in late May, released an updated ranking of the top 10 US carbonated soft drink brands in 2023 based on sales volume. There, at the top, was Coca-Cola Classic, with a 19.2% volume share of the market, followed by Dr Pepper, which squeaked by Pepsi, 8.34% to 8.31%. What a comedown for Pepsi, which had enjoyed a 15% share back in the glory days of 1995.
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Beverage Digest didn’t just rank soda brands in 2023. It also ranked every category of non-alcoholic drink on the market. At the very top, with 35.4% of the volume share of the market, was bottled water. Soft drinks followed at 33.9%, followed at a much greater distance by juice, tea, sports drinks, energy drinks, and coffee.
CNN: Justices uphold Trump tax on overseas investments in win for Biden
At issue in the closely watched tax case was whether the government could levy a tax on investment proceeds that had not yet been received. Charles and Kathleen Moore, a Washington state couple, challenged a $15,000 tax bill they received because of their investment in an India-based company. The profit at issue, the Moores claimed, were reinvested and never distributed to them.
The tax involved was enacted by Congress in 2017 as part of a larger package signed by then-President Donald Trump. The one-time mandatory repatriation tax was levied on shareholders on undistributed profits accrued between 1986 and the end of 2017 by certain foreign corporations that are majority owned by Americans. The provision was expected to raise $340 billion over a decade.
CNN: A popular tourist destination in China has installed toilet timers. Reactions are mixed
A video recently shared on various Chinese news and social media sites shows a set of timers installed above a row of toilet cubicles in a female washroom, with each stall getting its own digital counter.
When a stall is unoccupied, the pixelated LED screen displays the word “empty” in green. If in use, it shows the number of minutes and seconds the door has been locked.
WashPo: U.S. bans sales of Kaspersky anti-virus software, citing ties to Russia
The Biden administration announced Thursday that it will ban Kaspersky Lab from distributing its anti-virus software and cybersecurity products in the United States, pointing to national security concerns related to the Russian company.
Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters that the decision was made following an “extremely thorough investigation,” and that Kaspersky has “long raised national security concerns.” The United States in 2017 banned federal agencies from using those products.
“Russia has shown it has the capacity — and even more than that, the intent — to exploit Russian companies like Kaspersky to collect and weaponize the personal information of Americans, and that’s why we are compelled to take the action we are taking today,” Raimondo said.
Globe: New Brunswick business giant James Kenneth Irving dies at age 96
James Kenneth (J.K.) Irving, who was the last living son of New Brunswick industrialist K.C. Irving, has died at the age of 96.
Chairman of J.D. Irving Limited, a family-owned Saint John-based company that spanned the forestry, pulp and paper, tissue, lumber, building supplies, frozen food, transportation, shipping and ship-building industries, Mr. Irving was a giant even among the biggest names in Canadian business.
Last Updated: 21.Jun.2024 18:54 EDT
