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A family traveling to the United States declared that the flight attendant ordered them to stuff a 10-month-old puppy in an overhead bin, as animals are not allowed on the aisle. The puppy was later found dead. Allegedly, the incident occurred on the 12^th of March 2018 on a United Airlines plane.

United Airlines Flight Attendant Denies Knowledge of Puppy in Bag

Catalina Robledo and her 11-year-old daughter still mourn the passing of Kokito, a 10-month-old bulldog puppy, who dies asphyxiated during a United Airlines flight. The details of the events have been revealed by Sophia, as her mother is not fluent in English.

According to the 11-year-old, the incident occurred on the 12^th of March. Upon boarding the plane, Sophia and his mother kept Kokito at their feet in a carrier. Allegedly, a flight attendant came to them and told Robledo, and they are not allowed to keep the baggage at their feet and must place it in the overhead bin.

Despite Sophia and Catalina telling her that there’s a dog inside the bag, the flight attendant insisted. Reluctantly, the two agreed, and the flight attendant began stuffing the bag with Kokito inside the narrow bin.

To their horror, Catalina and Sophia could hear the puppy whimpering and barking from inside the compartment but could not get up from their seats to help him as the plane was experiencing turbulence.

Conclusion

Later, the two would retrieve the bag only to discover that the puppy was not breathing. After confronting the flight attendant, the woman swore that she did not know that there was a live animal in there.

However, Sophia and Catalina said that the woman was lying through her teeth because she grasped the bag and felt something moving inside of it.

Following the incident, a United Airlines spokesperson declared that the company assumes full responsibility for this unfortunate event and that it has launched an investigation.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Alphabet’s Waymo will celebrate one year of activity this December. The project used all available resources to test and improve its driverless technology with each passing day. However, the company is not ready yet to incorporate their fleet of vehicles into the daily traffic of humans.

Waymo Uses a Former Air Force Base as Testing Ground for Driverless Technology

Around 100 miles away from Waymo’s Mountain View headquarters is located an old Air Force base. The company employs the free tracks of this territory dubbed as Castle to test its driverless minivans on a daily basis.

At the moment, the technology is comprehensive enough to allow the car to properly function on the streets of a real city. However, it is now entirely up to the technology to learn how to react in numerous different situations.

In real life, the traffic is subjected to an endless series of human errors. For instance, a cyclist can pop a wheelie at any given point in front of a car. A man miscalculates that he has enough time to cross streets irregularly.

A driverless car should be capable of same reaction human drivers have when noticing a mistake on the road. At the moment, Alphabet is investing large funds into teaching its Waymo’s self-driving car technology how to overcome these cases of unpredictability.

Waymo Opened Its Gates to Media Representatives for the First Time

Therefore, the company takes full advantage of the Castle with its 91-acre area of streets and junctions before it is ready to face the real world. Waymo teams incorporated around 20,000 various traffic scenarios through which their driverless cars have to pass successfully.

As of recently, Alphabet organized the very first media event where it presented its driverless technology in action. This way, outsiders found out that there is a lot of progress Waymo has yet to achieve. Alphabet reassured the small crowd that it is going to allow its fleet to leave Castle only when they learn how to react in any kind of fortuit cases.

Waymo CEO John Krafcik disclosed no date after which consumers would get used to seeing cars on their streets without a driver. Instead, he mentioned that the company is working with unspecified cities to develop viable programs for their traffic where his technology plays main role.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Gary Cohn is the top economic advisor at the White House. He reportedly opened up the topic on tax increase on gasoline on Wednesday. Donald Trump has also commented on this idea at the start of his presidency term. However, it is only now that the White House advisor came back to it.

White House Advisor Reportedly Encouraged Bipartisan Group to Propose Gas Tax Increase in 2018

Cohn is the head of the National Economic Council and reportedly informed a moderate group of Republicans and Democrats of an upcoming opportunity. The Congress is going to propose an infrastructure package at the beginning of 2018. This is the best moment for Cohn’s group to suggest a gas tax increase.

Cohn brought up this subject during a discussion with Problem Solvers Caucus on a $1.5 trillion tax cut. This bipartisan group wrote a letter this summer addressed to President Trump. The text highlighted two issues that need solutions with high priority. These two points are an infrastructure investment and tax reform.

The Government Grant Hasn’t Changed Since 1993

The U.S. government is receiving a charge of 18.4 cents for a gallon of gasoline. The Highway Trust Fund collects the levy. In its turn, this organization has to cover mass transportation and road construction expenses. While these projects got more and more expensive, the gas tax remained the same as it was 24 years ago.

Back in May, Donald Trump discussed the idea of a gas tax raise in order to elevate funds for improvements the U.S. infrastructure needs. Afterwards, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer tagged the president’s discussion as a suggestion and not an endorsement. Spicer claimed that an organization of truckers contacted Trump to consider a tax hike to create the means for patching up the roads.

At the moment, the national average price for gasoline shows $2.45 per gallon. On the other hand, White House advisor Cohn did not specifically support the tax increase. However, the nation is in dire need of repairs and upgrades to its transportation infrastructure, and Cohn is aware of that. On top of that, the more gasoline becomes a luxury, the more appealing the electric vehicle market looks.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Singapore decided to resort to new stringent rules as of 2018 to cut back on traffic jams. The small city-state has been having issues with over-congestion for a long time now. The new regulations will make it harder for citizens to purchase additional vehicles.

The 2018 Stringent Rules Will Allow 0% Indulgence on New Cars

The Land Transport Authority in Singapore announced the implementation of strict legislation. The state will no longer indulge locals’ need for personal vehicles. Instead, the vehicle growth rate will plummet from 0.25% per year to 0%. However, truck and bus purchases won’t be subject to this ban.

This decision will take effect in 2018. Authorities will review the effects of this plan in 2020. This is when the freeze on car numbers might be lifted.

On the other hand, the government will be busy revamping the public transport infrastructure for Singapore. Officials allocated a budget of $21 billion over the next five years to improve rail and bus platforms.

At the moment, the city-state harbors a modern transit system. However, based on recent major breakdowns, the government decided that more upgrades are necessary to cope with the large requirement for transportation means.

The city of Singapore covers only a territory of 277 square miles. However, 12% of this area consists of roads. In 2016, authorities counted more than 600,000 active vehicles. The limited space mixed with a high number of car owners has only put more pressure on the urban quality of life.

Singapore Will Have a 31-Mile Cross Island MRT Line by 2030

Singapore has a population of 5.56 billion and the number is only going upwards. The city can control the influx of additional cars through a bidding process and an annual growth limit. Therefore, authorities are always aware of the total number of vehicles that use the city-state’s roads. Due to these conditions, the price tag for new cars can be four times bigger than in the United States.

While the following stringent rules will ban any car acquisition for the following two years, Singapore turns to public transit as a solution to its transport problem. Besides new or upgraded train lines and railway infrastructure, there are works on a 31-mile Cross Island MRT line in progress. The project will be completed in 2030 and will support 600,000 rides on a daily basis.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced a series of massive efforts to increase the value of the technical labor market. The company is going to open a training program called Grow with Google. Job seekers will be able to learn how to earn a reputed position. On top of that, the tech giant will donate $1 billion over five years as investments in nonprofit organizations that focus on professional training and education.

Grow with Google Program Will Train Job Seekers in App Development, Information Technology Support, and Many Others

Grow With Google will be an online hub where people can unlock training for technical jobs. They will even receive professional certificates to attest their new skills. The platform will be about businesses as well. Small companies will get to learn how to streamline their digital services.

Sundar Pichai claimed that the goal of this initiative is to reinforce the technical labor market. Anyone with an internet collection will be eligible for proficient lessons in technology. These courses will be tailored especially for those who seek employment in areas such as app development or information technology support.

“The nature of work is fundamentally changing, and that is shifting the link between education, training and opportunity.”

The charitable department known as Google.org will also follow a similar educational direction. Google will release funds valued at a total of $1 billion over the next five years. This financial support will head towards various nonprofit organizations such as Goodwill Industries.

On top of that, company employees will take part in these job training programs as well. They will volunteer at these NGOs for one million hours in guiding suitable candidates for the job market.

Google CEO Hinted that the Company Will Leave Silicon Valley for Pittsburgh

These numerous efforts where Google uses all its resources to improve the American job market come at a time when Silicon Valley is under attack. The tech hub received many criticizes for operating independently from the worlds of business and society. Some Silicon Valley parties along with Google are suspects in the Russian operation that influenced the 2016 presidential election.

Therefore, Sundar Pichai announced these latest projects far away from the Silicon Valley headquarters. The event took place at Google’s office in Pittsburgh. The CEO talked about this city as the next high-tech center for AI and robotics development.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Alibaba Group is the Chinese equivalent to online retailer Amazon. It seems that the company also shares the ambition of its rival. The behemoth has just announced the future opening of new research and development center located overseas. What’s baffling about this news is that the program is going to receive a $15 billion budget.

The Research and Development Center Is Called Alibaba DAMO Academy and Is Already in Contact with Prestigious International Institutions

On Wednesday, Alibaba Group announced a colossal investment into a new program called Alibaba DAMO Academy. The team that will empower this initiative has already reached a number of 100 members.

However, their task might be overwhelming. They have to find ways to expand Alibaba’s list of customers to two billion and generate 100 million jobs. The deadline is the year of 2036.

Alibaba Group chief technology officer Jeff Zhang will be in charge of the DAMO Academy. In the beginning, there will be seven labs in the cities of Beijing, Hangzhou, Bellevue, San Mateo, Moscow, Singapore, and Tel Aviv.

On top of that, Alibaba’s new research and development center will enjoy international collaboration. The unit will have the support of university programs such as U.C. Berkeley’s RISE Lab. This department is currently working on software that offer computers the capacity to take decisions in real-time for security purposes.

DAMO Academy’s list of fellows also includes professors from Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Columbia University, the University of Washington, Peking University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Zhejiang University. The range of interests will include machine learning tech, visual computing, digital security, and natural language processing.

Numerous Chinese Companies Contributed to the Growing Interest in Overseas Research

Alibaba is but one in a growing number of Chinese firms that gained high interest in tech research. Such financially draining efforts will yield significant benefits to companies in the end.

First of all, they can become the owners of pioneering technologies. Secondly, they can tap into the international talent pools.

By skipping the imperative of moving to China, talented professionals can choose to conduct valuable research in the comfort of their own nation. On top of that, Chinese companies will have access to the same market of candidates as Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook have.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Amazon.com Inc. was crowned the largest online retailer on this planet. However, the company needs to keep reinventing itself in order to preserve this top position. Its latest ambition is to cut the cord to longtime partners such as FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc. Amazon will support this significant shift through its own delivery services.

Amazon Has Been Experimenting with Its Own Delivery Services in India for Two Years Now

The United States can expect Amazon to broaden the list of products that goes with its Amazon Prime two-day delivery program. That’s because the retail behemoth will take charge of yet another function of its business, namely the delivery system.

In fact, the company has been tweaking this type of service for two years now in India. However, these efforts received a weak marketing side. Only U.S. merchants were quietly notified about this change. Nonetheless, after working on this project for such a long time, Amazon believes it is high time for a U.S. expansion.

People closed to this pilot program claimed that the new service is called Seller Flex. Citizens of the West Coast states have already started enjoying the benefits of this project without knowing it. The company scheduled a more extensive rollout for 2018. However, Amazon officials declined to comment on this pilot program.

The New Strategy Will Bring Massive Positive Changes to Both Company and Customers

Currently, Amazon relies entirely on the logistic and delivery services of UPS and FedEx. However, the company intends to gain its independence in this sector. The primary plan is to take charge of the package pickup from the warehouses of all the partners that are selling products on Amazon platform.

On the other hand, the online retailer might not be able to take full control of this entire process. Therefore, it might continue collaborating with third-party couriers, but at a smaller scale. The critical interest is to get to the point where the company and not the seller decides how a package is sent.

Amazon’s new strategy will significantly streamline its backstage efforts. Warehouses will enjoy decongestion, money savings will support more substantial discounts, and Amazon will gain more control over its customer care services.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Walt Disney Co. opened a new chapter with the New Yorkers by continuing its partnership with cable provider Altice USA Inc. The two behemoths drew a preliminary programming deal together.

The new offer will re-invite 2.4 million TV subscribers from the New York area to their favorite channels. Therefore, people will be able to enjoy ESPN, Disney Channel, and ABC again.

Optimum Subscribers Were Close to Losing Valuable Channels as of Sunday Night

On Sunday, a joint email on behalf of both Walt Disney and Altice USA reached the masses. The statement only informed TV subscribers that both companies are going to prolong their partnership. As per previous notifications, New Yorkers with Optimum cable contracts were ready to take their farewell of Disney content on Sunday night.

“We have reached an agreement in principle and have extended the deadline accordingly to try and finalize the terms.”

The conflict appeared when Disney importuned Altice with claims of adopting ESPN channel as well as its own entertainment ones. Altice wasn’t ready to embrace this new chapter due to high pecuniary demands that Burbank asked in exchange for ESPN. As of lately, this channel in particularly faced rating declines and subscriber losses. These events don’t justify the high price.

Contrary to its performance, ESPN has become the most expensive network. TV subscribers have to cover $7.54 for access to this sports channel alone per month. By comparison, 11 cable channels under Disney ownership cost around $12.58 per month.

The New Programming Deal Appeared after a Concession on Behalf of Altice and Not a Price Reduction

The new programming deal is a certification of the fact that Disney and other TV operators are not ready to give up on sports channels. This rejection to adapt to a time when subscribers watch less sports content costs companies a lot.

Disney has to keep up with massive sports rights fees. For instance, NFL demands $1.9 billion a year for “Monday Night Football.” At the same time, the NBA contract levels up charges with additional $1.4 billion a year.

As a result, Disney must produce extra $450 million annually by 2021 to indulge the inflation in its deals with sports content providers according to a MoffettNathanson Research report. However, Disney is still an important entertainment source that attracts 14% of Optimum prime customers for Altice to quit this partnership. Therefore, Altice decided to keep up with its partner’s demands, no matter how expensive this can get.

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STATES CHRONICLE – Certain music formats have come and gone, but this is not the case of vinyl. Mini discs, cassette tapes, and 8-tracks had their moment of glory, only to disappear and to be replaced by more modern formats. However, this vintage remained alive both for old school and modern people, so Sony decided to revive the production of such records in Japan.

Vintage air and better sound quality

Many people say the sound you get from a vinyl is purer and, by all means, they are right. Therefore, there are still plenty of music shops where you can purchase such records, and most artists release their music on vinyl as well.

Vinyl record players are also easy to buy, so you can find these products almost everywhere. This type of format is enjoyed not only by vintage people who love bringing up the past, but also by modern people who want their music delivered in high quality.

Therefore, music fans from Japan will soon have more options to purchase such records from. After ceasing their production some time ago, Sony decided to get back into business and bring back these types of records in its home country. Therefore, the older engineers are back to work with a more advanced technology and produce the best vinyls on the market.

Vinyl sales are now soaring

In 2008, vinyl sales still represented a small part of the music market but, since then, they have been increasing their popularity until reached a new milestone. Vinyl sales now produce 3.6 percent of the music profit all over the world.

In fact, vinyls made such a comeback that record companies all over the world couldn’t cope with such a high demand. While people still buy digital music and subscribe to streaming services, they also love having their favorite tunes in this format. Therefore, Sony will bring back the old engineers to pass on their knowledge about vinyl manufacturing.
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