Cuba Removed from U.S. Terrorism List – The U.S. officially removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.  This is seen as a necessary move for normalizing ties between the two countries.  Talks about reopening embassies have also been held.  An act of Congress would be needed to end the U.S.’s economic embargo on Cuba.

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Amazon Launches Free Same-Day Shipping for Prime Members – Amazon announced that its Prime members will receive free same-day shipping in 14 major markets for certain products. Prime members pay $99 annually for shipping perks as well as Amazon’s streaming services.

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Maritime Industry Questions CARB – Steamship lines and terminal operators are questioning the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Sustainable Freight Strategy initiative that would govern vessel, truck and train emissions through the year 2050.  One of the major criticism is the use of a 10 year old study that projected California container cargo volumes for 2014 to be more than double their actual values.  Double-digit growth in the early-mid 2000’s lead to the high projections.

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