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Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation: Ukrainian drones attacked the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on Saturday.On May 30th, the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission publicly solicited opinions on the "Guangdong Provincial Regulations on the Development of Low-Altitude Economy (Draft for Solicitation of Opinions)." The regulations focus on the prominent bottlenecks hindering the development of Guangdongs low-altitude economy, offering targeted and precise measures and making specific institutional arrangements. For example, regarding insufficient airspace access, the regulations establish a collaborative operation mechanism for low-altitude airspace to improve airspace utilization efficiency; regarding inadequate infrastructure, they emphasize key aspects such as infrastructure construction planning, operation management, and renovation; regarding insufficient safety supervision, they strengthen the supervision and management of flight activities and implement low-altitude safety responsibilities; and regarding limited application scenarios, they expand low-altitude economic application scenarios according to relevant classifications and systematically explore and promote new low-altitude economic application scenarios.On May 30th, GalaxyVS, an AI-powered virtual screening platform for large-scale drug discovery, was officially launched. Based on the next-generation Tianhe supercomputing system, the platform targets a space of nearly 100 billion synthetic compounds and constructs an end-to-end technology system covering molecular characterization, vector retrieval, diversity control, affinity reordering, and large-scale task scheduling. This provides a highly efficient, high-precision, and scalable new foundational platform for innovative drug development. The platform was jointly developed by an AI biomedical team led by Meng Xiangfei, Party Secretary and Chief Scientist of the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin, and Professor Lan Yanyan of the Institute for Intelligent Industry at Tsinghua University.On May 30th, the State Administration for Market Regulation announced that, in order to adapt to the needs of combating and rectifying pyramid schemes under the new circumstances, protect the legitimate rights and interests of natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations, and maintain market order and social stability, it has organized the revision of the "Regulations on Prohibiting Pyramid Schemes," resulting in the "Draft Regulations on Prohibiting Pyramid Schemes (Revised Draft for Public Comment)," which is now open for public comment. The public comment period is from May 29th to June 28th, 2026. The draft revisions focus on the following aspects: adding specific content on combating online pyramid schemes; strengthening the working mechanisms and measures for preventing and combating pyramid schemes; and increasing the legal liabilities for pyramid schemes.On May 30, at the invitation of Valentina Matviyenko, Chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia, and Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma, Zhao Leji, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress, paid an official friendly visit to Russia from May 27 to 30. In Moscow, he held separate talks with Matviyenko and Volodin and attended the 11th meeting of the China-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. Zhao Leji stated that the exchange mechanism between the legislative bodies of China and Russia is increasingly完善 (perfected/improved), playing an important role in optimizing the legal environment for bilateral cooperation and consolidating the public opinion foundation of bilateral relations. Both sides should, based on the functions and responsibilities of their legislative bodies, maintain the good momentum of multi-level and multi-field exchanges, enhance mutual understanding and trust, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, and better serve the development of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era. Exchanges of legislative experience should be conducted in areas such as national security, ecological and environmental protection, artificial intelligence, and foreign-related legal affairs.

Costco Margins Are Impacted by Growing Freight And Labor Expenses, And The Stock Price Falls

Charlie Brooks

May 27, 2022 09:50

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Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) announced a decline in gross margins on Thursday, impacted by rising freight and labor expenses across the United States. The news sent shares of the membership-only retailer down 2% and overshadowed an otherwise positive quarterly report.


Fresh COVID-19 lockdowns in China and the Russia-Ukraine conflict have compounded the problem for U.S. businesses.


Costco announced that it would increase prices in certain food categories in order to battle inflation.


Retailers such as Walmart (NYSE:WMT) Inc and Target Corp (NYSE:TGT) have warned that decades-high inflation will have a negative impact on their earnings, as shoppers hesitate from purchasing non-essential and high-margin goods.


The average Costco buyer earns more than the average Walmart and Target shopper, allowing Costco to generate quarterly earnings and revenue that easily exceeds expectations.


Memberships and sales have been boosted by the company's efforts to keep gas prices several cents below the national average.


Costco, in contrast to Walmart, reported that there has not been a significant shift from branded products to its private label product, Kirkland Signature.


"We aren't really observing a decline in commerce. This year, more money is being spent on tickets, dining out, travel, tires, and gasoline "In a post-earnings conference call, Robert Nelson, senior vice president of finance and investor relations, said.


Costco's gross margins decreased by 99 basis points in the third quarter.


According to data from Refinitiv IBES, Costco's total sales for the quarter ending May 8 increased by 16 percent to $52.60 billion, surpassing analysts' projections of $51.71 billion.


Excluding adjustments, Costco's earnings per share were $3.17, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.03.