A grocery store chain in Europe said that shoplifting losses exceeded profits made by the company in 2023, reports show.
“We often catch people not scanning products, or not paying at the cash register. People are becoming increasingly sophisticated in not paying for products. You sometimes fall over in shock to witness how creative people are to take products without paying,” Ton van Veen, CEO of grocery chain Jumbo, told Netherlands-based news outlet ANP.
Jumbo is a grocery chain with more than 700 locations that operate in both Belgium and the Netherlands. The company detailed in an earnings release that the value of items stolen from store locations was 25% higher than profits pulled in last year, the NL Times reported.
The chain said that shoplifting usually leads to a loss of 100 million euros ($110 million) each year, exceeding the anticipated annual profit of around €80 million ($88 million) after taxes in 2023.
“In many stores, the loss due to stolen products now amounts to around 1 percent of turnover, and store employees are confronted with unpleasant situations and increased tensions,” the company said, according to the NL Times.
Jumbo officials said that there was an estimated 60% increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared to 2022.Mihail – stock.adobe.com
Jumbo officials said that there was an estimated 60% increase in shoplifting incidents in 2023 compared to 2022, with the cost of living fanning the flames of theft and crime, the Financial Times reported. The grocery chain added that self-checkout has also contributed to the increase in shoplifting, accounting for one-third of the thefts.
“This is a growing problem, and we are appealing to politicians to address this,” Van Veen said, according to the NL Times.
“It also very much depends on the neighborhood. There are market areas where we are more troubled by it, and there are areas where it is less prevalent,” he continued.
To combat the crime trend, the supermarket chief said the company is deploying security guards at a “growing number” of grocery store doors, and will focus on adding camera surveillance to locations.
“We will communicate with customers so that they know that they are being recorded. We respect all privacy regulations. As soon as we take concrete steps, we will provide further information about this,” Van Veen said, according to NL Times.
Jumbo is a grocery chain with more than 700 locations that operate in both Belgium and the Netherlands.Google Maps
Similar to a handful of U.S. cities, areas of Europe have reported increases in retail theft in recent years.
A study published late last year found that four in 10 people in Belgium would leave a grocery store with at least one item they did not pay for, the Brussels Times reported.
In the Netherlands, a study found that shoplifting incidents increased by at least 15% in 2023, compared to the year prior.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jumbo’s press team Thursday for additional comment.
Hezbollah on Saturday initiated what it announced as"an initial response" to Israel's assassinationby drone of Hamas deputy chief Saleh al-Arouri, which happened in a south Beirut neighborhood last week.
The Lebanese paramilitary group backed by Iran unleashed large salvos of missiles that bombarded military bases as well as communities in northern Israel (many of which have long been evacuated), triggeringalert sirens among some 90 towns and settlements.
The Hezbollah statement declared that the assault was "part of the initial response to the crime of assassinating the great leader Sheikh Saleh al-Arouri."
The Israel Defense Forces in a follow-up statement said some 40 rockets were fired from Lebanon at the Mount Meron area in particular, which contains a crucial IDF base which reportedly has overseen Israeli operations against Syria.
Hezbollah indicated it launched 62 "various types of missiles"against the Meron air control base as part of Saturday's retaliatory attacks, however, Israel said there were no casualties in the aftermath.
Lebanon's Hezbollah-linked Almayadeen news service has said that the targeting of Meron Base is a first of the conflict, and is of huge significance:
Located just 8 kilometers from Lebanon's southern border, "Meron" Base overlooks the Lebanese towns of Rmeish, Yaroun, and Maroun al-Ras in the central sector. It occupies the summit of Mount Jarmaq in northern occupied Palestine, making it the highest peak within the occupied territories.
Sitting at an altitude of approximately 1200 meters above sea level, the base sprawls across an area of up to 150,000 square meters, with a substantial portion of the surrounding areas believed to be under its control for military and intelligence purposes.
According to the Resistance statement released today, "Meron" primarily serves as an aerial surveillance center.
It is the sole facility responsible for managing and controlling air operations toward Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Cyprus, as well as the northern part of the eastern Mediterranean Sea basin. Moreover, this base acts as a central hub for electronic warfare interference in the mentioned directions, staffed by a significant number of elite Israeli officers and soldiers.
Hezbollah has already since Oct.7 been targeting and degrading Israel's vast military communications infrastructure along the Lebanese border, often publishing videos of these attacks.
⚡️BREAKING
Hezbollah strikes Israel's most important military site
With 62 missiles, Hezbollah pounded the Mount Meron base, which coordinates Israel's air operations and bombing raids on Syria and Lebanon.
It is as yet unknown the degree of damage that Meron base may have suffered, and Israel is likely to keep this under wraps even if the damage is extensive.
Saturday's escalation was met with swift reaction from the European Union, which urged restraint:
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Saturday that it was “imperative” to avoid a regional escalation in the Middle East.
“It is absolutely necessary to avoid Lebanon being dragged into a regional conflict,” he said, also warning Israel that “nobody will win from a regional conflict”.
“We are seeing a worrying intensification of exchange of fire across the Blue Line,” he added, referring to the current demarcation line between the two countries, a frontier mapped by the United Nations that marks the line to which Israeli forces withdrew when they left south Lebanon in 2000.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah had vowed to retaliate for the killing of Hamas political deputy head Saleh Arouri in a Friday speech, while also saying he won't negotiate ceasefire with Israel until it ceases attacking Gaza.
IDF published clips of its airstrikes on southern Lebanon Saturday:
Later in the day Saturday, the IDF said it launched multiple airstrikes on Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon in response, and released footage showing attacks on buildings and rural sites said to include a "terrorist squad, launch site, military buildings and terrorist infrastructure."
I know we say this every year, but it feels like just yesterday we were all crammed in a single room in Las Vegas eating mediocre takeout and voting for best in show in Engadget's annual Best of CES Awards. But CES 2024 is, in fact, just around the corner. The show officially runs from January 9 to January 12, though we'll be on the ground well before that, with the first CES-related events expected to kick off on January 7.
Last year we saw a focus on accessibility and a rather disturbing amount of stuff that you were supposed to pee on or into. While we'll probably see a good amount devices designed to help those with hearing impairments and mobility restrictions again this year, we anticipate some new trends to steal some headlines. Here's a few predictions from our staff about what to expect from CES 2024 in Las Vegas — plus a digest of what's been announced in the run-up to the show.
User-friendly solar
Jackery
I suspect CES 2024 will be full of clean energy technology, packaged in the form of consumer hardware. Solar panels have traditionally been the purview of professional contractors but standalone setups are gaining in popularity. Two or three years ago, this gear would have been targeted at RV users but now it’s cresting into the mainstream. Pop-up panels, coupled with inverters and batteries that look like air conditioning units, sitting unobtrusively in the corner, are all the rage. It’s a plus that most of these setups are plug and play, removing the need for a professional to get involved.
There are a couple of drivers for this beyond the niche audience of folks looking to get off of the electricity grid. In many places outside the US, the cost of energy has spiked dramatically and it’s folly to think the same won’t happen here. Not to mention that, in places like Texas, people have seen the power grid fail with devastating consequences. It’s going to be a big market in the next few years and I’d expect to see more and more consumer brands follow Anker and Jackery into the home battery world. — Dan Cooper, Senior Reporter UK
MEMS earbuds
xMEMS
If Engadget’s audience stats are any indication, audio nerds are extremely excited about MEMS earbud drivers. As my colleague James Trew has detailed in his reporting, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) may very well be the next big thing in headphones. A California-based company called xMEMS is the first to bring the solid state components to market, and the first true wireless earbuds that use them have recently gone on sale.
Some of the benefits of MEMS drivers are said to be improved response, better durability and more consistent fidelity. They also don’t require the calibration or matching that balanced-armature or dynamic drivers need on a production line. The only downside is that in their current state, they still need a hybrid setup with a secondary driver for bass. In its next-gen MEMS speaker, though, xMEMS is promising 40 times louder bass response.
The new model is called Cypress and the company will be demoing it for attendees at CES. xMEMS says its performance is consistent with the bass performance of “the best” 10-12 coil speakers currently being used in earbuds. What’s more, Cypress can improve ANC performance, which xMEMs says will cover higher frequencies – including crying babies. The company has already said the components won’t go into mass production until the end of 2024, so consumer products are over a year away. But the promise is too good not to be excited about a very early preview in Las Vegas. — Billy Steele, Senior Reporter
Wi-Fi 7 in everything
Netgear
While it may not be the most exciting development, I’m expecting to see a number of new devices with support for Wi-Fi 7 at CES 2024 — from laptops to TVs and everything in between. Currently, it’s still a work in progress, but with the official Wi-Fi 7 spec expected to be finalized sometime in early 2024, gadget makers are looking to get an early jump. Some benefits of Wi-Fi 7 include maximum speeds of up to 46 Gbps — more than twice as fast as what’s available using Wi-Fi 6/6E — along with a 320Mhz channel width that offers double the capacity compared to previous generations.
Another important feature is MLO (multi-link operation) which allows Wi-Fi 7 devices to use two bands at the same time, essentially turning a single wireless connection into a two-lane highway. For people with larger homes, this should improve the performance of mesh networks by allowing devices to switch bands without losing speed or connection. QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) is also getting a significant boost from 1024-QAM on Wi-Fi 6/6E to 4096-QAM with Wi-Fi 7 which allows devices to pack more information into the same carrier signal.
The downside is that while there are some gadgets on sale today like the Samsung Galaxy S23 that already support Wi-Fi 7, you’ll need both a compatible device and router (not to mention a sufficiently fast internet connection) to take advantage of the spec’s full capabilities. In short, you should keep an eye out for new devices that work with Wi-Fi 7, but don’t rush out and upgrade everything in your home until prices stabilize and they become more widespread. — Sam Rutherford, Senior Reporter
The year of the AI PC
Intel
If there’s one buzzy term you’re guaranteed to hear a ton throughout 2024, it’s “AI PC.” It’s a phrase both Intel and AMD are using to describe computers equipped with chips featuring NPUs, or neural processing units. Similar to the way GPUs speed up graphics processing for gaming, an NPU offloads AI tasks to handle them more efficiently. For Windows 11, that’s mainly limited to Microsoft’s Studio Effects, which can blur your video chat backgrounds or punch up your lighting. But more Windows AI features are rumored to be on the way (Microsoft’s push to bring its Copilot AI everywhere is a big sign), and companies like Adobe and Audacity are also developing NPU-powered features for their apps.
For years chipmakers have been chasing higher clock rates, smaller process designs and a wealth of other architectural upgrades like 3D transistors to make their hardware faster and more efficient. The move towards mobile chip designs, like Apple’s Silicon, is yet another way to reduce power consumption while also speeding up computational possibilities. Intel, AMD and other companies are also focusing more on GPUs to beef up basic gaming performance, while also offloading some creative tasks like media encoding. NPUs are the latest tool chip designers can rely on, and they also have the potential to change the way we use our computers entirely (or at least, deliver a bit more power and battery life for ultraportables).
While it’s easy to be skeptical of marketing terms, the phrase “AI PC” is at least functional. There are still plenty of laptops on the market without NPUs — Intel only got into the AI game with its new Core Ultra chips — so consumers will need an easy way to differentiate between different types of systems. After all, if you’re upgrading your laptop to take advantage of Windows Studio effects and AI powered software, you don’t want to be stuck with a non-NPU system for several years. — Devindra Hardawar, Senior Reporter
Truly wireless TV
Cherlynn Low / Engadget
Displace made a splash at CES 2023 with its truly wireless TV that could be mounted anywhere, even suction-cupped to a window. The company’s demo left us with a lot of questions as it wasn’t yet ready to discuss key details of the product since what it showed off were CES-specific prototypes. The company is returning to Vegas this year and it’s already announced what it plans to have on display.
First, Displace says two sizes of TVs will be demoed: the 27-inch Displace Mini and the 55-inch Displace Flex. The display we saw earlier this year was also 55 inches, but a key difference between it and the Flex is that this new version attaches to an optional magnetic wireless charging stand. Both the Flex and the Mini pack enough battery life to last a month if you watch six hours of content per day, according to the company. There’s no pricing available for these yet, but they go up for pre-order on January 9, so we’re bound to find out soon. Displace said it will also show off a 110-inch model at CES, although details are scarce.
The original version has gone up in price since last CES: it’s now $4,499 and orders won’t ship until mid-2024. The new Mini and Flex aren’t expected to ship until late next year either. The main thing we’ll be looking for at CES is a status update. Are the units any more polished? Have there been any notable upgrades since that first prototype? How much will the extra swappable batteries cost? Does it look like the company will actually be able to ship in the next 6-12 months?
Displace has also announced an AI-based shopping platform for its TVs. Using the same gestures that control TV viewing, the tech can analyze a paused scene for products that might be available for sale. The system also allows you to quickly make a purchase by either bringing a phone or watch near the NFC-enabled TVs or by using a mobile app. Displace says the goal for its products has always been ambient computing, and the first step towards that is this shopping platform. It’s also a way for the company to make money off the TVs after the initial sale. — Billy Steele
Announcements so far
Although CES 2024 officially kicks off on January 9, that hasn't stopped some companies from making their announcements a few days early. Here's some of the bigger news items we've reported on so far:
A federal appeals court on Saturday reinstated a judge's ruling that barred California from enforcing a new law that bans the carrying of guns in most public places, a measure that the judge had concluded was unconstitutional.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved a order from a week earlier that suspended an injunction issued by a judge who concluded the state's law violated the right of citizens to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment.
Toyota Motor will restart its Japanese vehicle plants on Monday as originally scheduled, the company said in a press release on Sunday.
The automaker said that because many of its suppliers and their affiliates are in areas affected by the New Year's Day earthquake that struck Noto peninsula, it will use parts in stock outside those areas.
Earlier throughout the day there were significant rumors that Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has been in the hospital for days, and no one knew it... surprisingly even at the White House, apparently—andat a moment the US is embroiled in running conflicts and proxy wars from Ukraine to the Middle East.
This is a worrisome development which has huge implications for the Biden administration and White House competency and issues of transparency. Not only has Austin's hospitalization now been confirmed, but CNN is reporting late Saturday that President Biden was in the dark almost the whole time:
President Joe Biden was not aware for days that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan ultimately informed Biden late Thursday afternoon, soon after Sullivan himself learned that Austin had been hospitalized, that source said. Austin was admitted to the hospital on New Year’s Day due to complications from an elective surgery.
The Pentagon announced the hospitalization Friday. Austin issued his first statement Saturday, five days after being admitted to the hospital, saying he could have done a “better job” of notifying the public.
All of this was ultimately confirmed by a statement from the hospitalized Secretary of Defense himself, who said in the early evening Saturday, "I recognize I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better."
Austin continued regarding this growing scandal over transparency: "But this is important to say: this was my medical procedure, and I take full responsibility for my decisions about disclosure," the statement continued.
The Defense Secretary was at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and now says he's "on the mend".
He was hospitalized and thus out of commission... as the head of the Pentagon... for nearly four days.
CNN underscores, "Senior administration officials said they were shocked to learn of Austin’s hospitalization and the delay in informing the White House."
The initial procedure which led to complications has been deemed minor, but the situation worsened into a serious medical event based on the undisclosed complication.
This scandal may have Constitutional implications, given the White House-appointed civilian head of the military was persona non grata and the Commander-in-Chief didn't so much as know about it...
Sensors applied to the skin hold promise for a non-invasive and low-cost method of identifying key biomarkers in sweat, which could help clinicians make earlier and more accurate diagnoses. Up until now, however, sensors could identify the presence of biomarkers but lacked the ability to accurately detect their concentration in the presence of erratic, intermittent and unpredictable sweat production.
To solve this problem, a team of Penn State researchers has developed a sensor that accurately detects biomarker concentrations in sweat samples. Their work was published in Advanced Science.
While researchers had previously created a sensor that could detect amounts of glucose and other biomarkers, the sensors lacked a way to accurately detect the volume of sweat, meaning the concentration of the biomarkers was unknown.
"One particular challenge is to quantify that biomarker and sweat rate in an accurate manner, because the different conditions that cause us to sweat—exercise, warm weather, eating spicy foods—can all have different rates of sweating that may be more consistent or may be on-and-off sweating," said Huanyu "Larry" Cheng, the James L. Henderson, Jr. Memorial Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State.
"That makes it challenging to measure the volume of sweat, which we need to know if we want to quantify the biomarker concentration."
To assess this information, the researchers designed a sensor with two channels for capturing sweat: one that will measure the amount of the biomarker, and one that will measure the volume of sweat. The sensor relies on a dye to signal the presence of the biomarker and can be read with the naked eye, making it inexpensive and easy to use.
According to Cheng, because the sensor's results can be so easily read without expensive processing equipment, it could be especially useful to providers in remote areas.
"The liquid will react with the dye deposited in the channel, changing color, and based on the advancing front of the liquid, we can quantify the sweat rate and volume based on the line in that channel," Cheng said. "We use the printed marks near the channel to indicate the sweat volume to compare with, and then use the other set of marks to read out the concentration at the pre-set volumes."
The concentration of the biomarker, not just its presence, is useful in diagnostics. For example, the researchers said their sensor could be used to test for cystic fibrosis, which is often indicated by high levels of chloride in the patient.
"The typical course of action to diagnose cystic fibrosis is to induce a local sweat through exercise, but with our sensor, we can detect the chloride concentration in sweat without requiring the patient to exercise, since we can use passive heat-induced sweating with our wearable form of the testing setup," Cheng said.
This method, combined with the soft materials of the sensor, makes it better than traditional diagnostic testing for infants and young children, according to Cheng. To test the sensor, Cheng is partnering with doctors at the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for a trial of the sensor.
More information: Muhan Deng et al, Skin‐Interfaced Bifluidic Paper‐Based Device for Quantitative Sweat Analysis, Advanced Science (2023). DOI: 10.1002/advs.202306023
