As talks are announced regarding a potential free-trade agreement between the two continental powers, which could simplify and revolutionize the €450 per annum trans-Atlantic trade there are rumblings in UK freight forwarding circles that another agreement, potentially a precursor to the main agreement and involving the security concerns when shipping goods between the partners, does not appear to hold all that it originally seemed to promise.

United Parcel Service of America (UPS) has formed a partnership with electronic circuit boards manufacturer, Jabil Circuit, to provide reverse logistics services globally. Under the partnership, UPS's logistics and distribution business unit and Jabil's aftermarket services division will provide optimized reverse logistics solutions for return and repair programs to original equipment manufacturers, service providers and enterprises.

Swiss manufacturer ABB has said it will focus on reducing cost to offset economic uncertainty. In order to combat the sluggish global economy that has damaged sales for many providers of industrial equipment, ABB has focused on the bottom line. "In the short term, there are still a lot of questions around the pace of growth in Europe and the U.S. and the timing of the rebound in China," said Joe Hogan, chief executive officer of ABB.

The International Supply Chain Education Alliance (ISCEA) announced that the ISCEA Ptak Prize is offering 1,000 scholarships for 3rd- and 4th-year Saudi Arabian university students. The scholarships allow the eligible students to obtain internationally recognized, CSCA (Certified Supply Chain Analyst) qualification free of charge. This initiative is to support the kingdom's supply chain and human capital development goals over the next ten years. Each year ISCEA Ptak Prize will award 100 scholarships with the total value awarded more than $1mn.

The Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) in North Carolina State University's Poole College of Management is one of several partners in a five- year, $3.9m grant-funded project to build and evaluate supply chains for local farmers and fishers to supply large-scale markets in North Carolina. The project is led by the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) in NC State's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), which has been awarded the first year's funding of the grant by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Shell, BP, Maersk, Stena and the Japanese shipping companies NYK, MOL and "K" Line have announced their joint collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to support job creation and capacity building projects in Somalia.

Moonlighting van drivers are probably to blame for the growing problem of GPS jamming on Britain's roads, the latest survey of the problem by the Technology Strategy Board's Sentinel Project has suggested. In advance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Vulnerabilities 2013 event, the organization revealed its network of sensors had recently detected up to 100 potentially dangerous jamming incidents a day near one busy UK airport alone.

DB Schenker Logistics says it has started building a 23.5m euro ($32m) logistics centre in Rudna u Prahy, close to the Czech capital of Prague. The 90,800-square-metre terminal has been designed to meet the most advanced technological, safety and environmental requirements, the company says.

London Gateway, the new container port under construction on the banks of the River Thames, got a huge vote of confidence recently from an important source. The DP World funded operation is already in talks with several leading shipping lines, but the scheme is two-tiered and the plans eventually are to couple the dockside activities directly with a giant logistics park situated immediately behind the wharves.