Online retailers in key African markets are stepping up efforts to prevent fraud and gain the trust of consumers in order to encourage online payments in a region where, because of the vast numbers of mobile users, the potential for e-commerce is enormous.

Despite the well-publicized slowdown in economic growth, overall consumer sentiment in China can still be described as cautiously optimistic. More precisely, caution characterizes the lower end of the consumer market, while optimism envelops the high end. China, in other words, has become a two-speed consumer market. The optimistic, "high-speed" consumer market disproportionately consists of middle- to upper-middle-class and affluent households. These consumers also make up the bulk of the digital class of active online shoppers.

Sometime this summer, a United Airlines flight will take off from Los Angeles International Airport bound for San Francisco using fuel generated from farm waste and oils derived from animal fats.

Thanks to advancing capabilities and greater accessibility, the use of drones is continuing to increase. In fact, global drone sales reached $4.3m in 2015, a 167-percent jump from two years ago. This surge should come as no surprise as people find more and more useful ways to put drones to work.