Author: Editor-In-Chief

The Google logo displayed on your phone next to your shopping cart.Rafael Enrique | SOPA Images | Light Rocket (via Getty Images)As retailers increasingly turn to artificial intelligence tools to lure shoppers and run critical parts of their businesses, google We want to make sure it’s at the center of the action. At the kickoff of the National Retail Federation’s annual trade show on Sunday, Google announced the launch of what it calls the Universal Commerce Protocol. The company hopes UCP will become an industry standard for retailers to use for AI agents and systems across tasks such as discovery,…

Russia fired Oleshnik missiles into Ukraine overnight on Friday, its second attack since the start of the all-out war in 2022. Kiev and its allies say the attack was intended as a warning to the West. Russian defense officials have not said where Oreshnik landed, but Ukrainian authorities reported on Friday that there were several explosions and a ballistic missile attack in the western city of Lviv. The first use of this new weapon, which can carry nuclear or conventional payloads, was to target an apparently vacant factory in Dnipropetrovsk in late November 2024. Here’s what we know about the…

Gabriel Martinelli responded to recent criticism by scoring a hat-trick as Arsenal came from behind to beat Portsmouth 4-1 and reach the fourth round of the FA Cup.The Brazilian winger was criticized for his response to Conor Bradley’s season-ending injury on Thursday night, but he was instrumental in helping Arsenal score three goals from corners, taking their tally from set-pieces to 22 in all competitions this season. However, Mikel Arteta’s side were given an early scare by the Championship side when Colby Bishop put Pompey ahead after just three minutes after Kepa Arrizabalaga curled Conor Chaplin’s shot from the edge…

Google today announced a new open standard for AI agent-based shopping called Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) at the National Retail Federation (NRF) conference. Developed in collaboration with companies like Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, this standard allows agents to work on different parts of the customer buying process, including research and post-purchase support. The core idea is that standards facilitate different parts of the process instead of requiring connections with different agents. Google said it can also work with other agent protocols, including Agent Payments Protocol (A2P), Agent2Agent (A2A), and Model Context Protocol (MCP), which Google announced last year.…

Bobby CEO Laura Mody said on the Oct. 7 episode of the “CNBC Change Makers and Power Players” podcast that she has a nightly ritual to stay confident when running her infant formula business.PM Modi does a “personal and professional check-in” every evening, mentally ranking his day from both perspectives on a scale of 1 to 5, she said. She added that this routine helps you reflect and process your emotions as you get ready for bed.”There are moments when you have to check in, remember that you’re human, remind yourself that’s okay, and put on your thick skin,” PM…

A Walmart sign is posted on the exterior of a store in Hollywood, Florida, on November 20, 2025. Joe Radle | Getty Imageswalmart and google announced Sunday that shoppers will soon be able to use Google’s artificial intelligence assistant, Gemini, to more easily discover and purchase products from the retail giant and its warehouse club, Sam’s Club.Incoming Walmart CEO John Furner and Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced their partnership on stage at the National Retail Federation Big Show, an annual industry conference held at the Javits Center in New York City. The CEOs declined to say when the new features…

Tankers dock at a terminal in Matanzas, Cuba, January 7, 2026, as Cubans brace for worsening fuel shortages after the United States seized a Venezuela-linked tanker, cutting off a vital energy lifeline. Norris Perez | ReutersUS President Donald Trump said on Sunday that no more Venezuelan oil or money would be sent to Cuba, suggesting the communist-ruled island should strike a deal with Washington to increase pressure on America’s longtime nemesis.Venezuela is Cuba’s biggest oil supplier, but no cargo has left Venezuelan ports for the Caribbean nation since Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was detained by the U.S. military in early…

Ukraine battled on Sunday to restore power to tens of thousands of people left without heat in frigid temperatures after a week of heavy Russian aggression collapsed the country’s energy infrastructure. In Kiev, heating was restored to about 85% of apartment buildings in a day after the entire city lost power, heat and water on Saturday. But the city’s mayor, Vitali Klitschko, said more than 1,000 buildings remained without heat. Daytime temperatures can drop to -10°C (14F). Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said Russia had been targeting energy infrastructure every day for the past week as temperatures plummeted. “The enemy…

Officials in Indonesia and Malaysia said they have temporarily blocked access to xAI’s chatbot Grok. These are the most aggressive moves yet by government authorities in response to a flood of AI-generated sexual images (often depicting real women and minors, and sometimes depicting violence) posted by Grok in response to requests from users on the social network X (X and xAI are part of the same company). “The government views the practice of non-consensual sexual deepfakes as a serious violation of the human rights, dignity and safety of citizens in the digital space,” Indonesia’s Communications and Digital Minister Meutiya Hafid…

Falcia Harvey considers herself quite well-traveled. The 27-year-old left New York City, New Orleans and crossed Mardi Gras, Barcelona and Madrid off her travel bucket list. But one of her favorite trips was to Cincinnati for her birthday in 2024.”A trip to Cincinnati is always on my mind,” Harvey told CNBC Make It, adding that she wanted somewhere not too far from her home in Nashville at the time, but it wasn’t a staycation either. “It was one of my best birthday memories and one that me and my friends still talk about.”Some of her highlights were going to Somerset’s…