Russia expects its economy to contract by 0.8 percent, as reported by the BBC. That contradicts previous estimates, which projected a 1.2 percent growth. Some say Russia’s reliance on the oil industry played a large part in the sharp revision.
The number of movies by Sony Pictures leaked online this week, threatening the studio’s holiday box office returns. The leak comes just as Sony is recovering from a crippling hack that disabled all of the company’s computers and email accounts. Evidence is pointing to North Korea, the Wall Street Journal reported. The country was blamed for a similar hack against South Korea last year and publicly denounced Sony’s Kim Jong-un assassination comedy “The Interview.”
That’s how much Jeep sales grew over the last year. In fact, auto sales in general are on the rise, due in part to the economy being up and gas prices down. Another factor: Many car dealers have jumped on the Black Friday craze.
The portion of congressional travel costing less than $100 that was provided by Uber during this year’s midterm elections. The company’s rider data is a treasure trove for politicians, foreign governments, lawyers and anyone else who could benefit from cyber-espionage. Uber has played fast and loose with access to this data, the Washington Post reported, including giving access to a prospective employee during the interview process.
The amount of money that Netflix has spent on its new series “Marco Polo,” making it one of the most expensive TV series ever made (second only to “Game of Thrones”). And just like the titular explorer of its new series, Netflix has global ambitions.
As small businesses are turning to Amazon-style fulfillment centers to keep up with deliveries during the holidays, Amazon has deployed robots to keep up. The company bought Kiva Systems for $775 million two years ago, and more than 15,000 of the firm’s robots are managing inventory at Amazon warehouses this holiday season, Reuters reported.
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