A failed freight-booking system at a German-American air station stranded thousands of deliveries and halted production at 41 factories, according to a new study. Researchers say €31 million in lost output and penalties was never recovered — and warn that the next outage could hit harder.
A court fight over a warehouse robot has prompted a new report estimating that Vietnamese student-designed machines generated 19.2 trillion dong in value without royalties reaching their creators. The companies named in the case dispute the allegations, but the report says the problem stretches far beyond one design.
When record rain cut roads and mobile service around Toyama, a small manufacturer’s old-fashioned dispatch boards kept goods moving. Owner Liana Alexa expected a few emergency orders; instead, rival delivery firms are now her biggest customers.
A produce warehouse near Naivasha is drawing cool air through a crack in its floor, cutting the heat inside without a running chiller. The discovery is helping its owner make use of costly storage capacity built faster than customers arrived.
A shutdown at a key import berth has cut Moroccan deliveries of household gas cylinders by a third, sending shoppers searching and informal prices soaring. Analysts warn that if supplies do not recover by Sunday, the squeeze could reach bakeries and small manufacturers next.
A new Valencian licensing law forced 286 lorry drivers from an overnight freight yard near Valencia on Thursday, then a cabin-removal operation cut power to six refrigerated warehouses. Terminal operators say €3.2 million (about $3.8 million) of food was put at risk; officials say no one was injured.
A rare deluge has turned South Africa’s Namaqualand into a springtime tourism sensation, with flower-route visitors already far exceeding the area’s previous seasonal high. Local businesses say the rush is bringing a welcome boost after rain transformed dry fields into carpets of colour.
A protest by hundreds of online merchants over hidden product rankings turned a Cairo pavement into an unlikely pop-up bazaar on Wednesday. The marketplace’s own app helped steer shoppers to the sellers who had gathered outside its offices.
A Paris cash-management company accidentally routed €940 million of business customers’ money into short-term French government bills, a lawsuit filed this week alleges. The error delayed thousands of payments and has left the firm defending its promise that clients could withdraw their cash at any time.
A walkout by port dispatchers was followed by an automated yard system stacking 38 containers across a main access route at Lagos’s Apapa port. The overnight mishap halted truck movements for 29 hours and left 17 ships waiting to berth or depart.
A phone video of Orienza Home Systems’ chief executive insisting he remains in charge drew more than 10 million views and helped drive the company’s shares to a record trading session on Wednesday. The board says his successor will take over next week; the outgoing chief disputes the timing, not the need for a formal vote.
A severe Mediterranean storm flooded the Sidi Gaber industrial zone in Alexandria overnight, wrecking one of Egypt’s largest garment factories and prompting an immediate export stop. The listed supplier, NileTex Holdings, warned of a multihundred‑million‑pound hit and its shares plunged on the Cairo Exchange.