Latest news with #Koda
Global News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Global News
Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo celebrates their bears' birthdays
See more sharing options Send this page to someone via email Share this item on Twitter Share this item via WhatsApp Share this item on Facebook The Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is hosting a week-long birthday celebration for the bears Mistaya and Koda's 20th birthdays. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy On Wednesday, the zoo invited people to join the bears for cake and presents, and dozens of people showed up to celebrate. Global's Nicole Healey has the full story in the video above.
CBC
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
A 20th birthday celebration for bear brothers at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo
The Saskatoon Forestry Farm and Zoo's two grizzly bears, Koda and Mistaya, turn 20 this year. The zoo is hosting events all week to celebrate.
Ammon
17-07-2025
- General
- Ammon
Dog lost in Alaskan wilderness found by pilot nine days later
Ammon News - A dog who went missing during a camping trip in Alaska was found over a week later by a pilot who decided to go searching in his small plane. Soldotna residents Lewis and Amber Ekle said they were camping near Carmen Lake over the Fourth of July weekend when their dog, Koda, became spooked and ran off. "We tried to grab his collar," Lewis Ekle told KTUU-TV. "He grabbed his frisbee ... and said, 'No, I'm out.'" The couple spent nine days searching for Koda on foot and by boat, but they couldn't find any sign of the canine. They posted about the missing dog in several different Facebook groups, getting the attention of multiple volunteer searchers, including pilot John Kagerer. "I just had a real feeling. I don't know, a gut feeling that I was going to find the dog," Kagerer said. The pilot landed his plane about a half mile from where Koda disappeared, and the dog appeared within minutes. "Here comes the dog out of the alders over to me, you know. But it wouldn't get any closer than about 10 feet to me," Kagerer said. He used some dog treats he kept in his plane to lure Koda to come close enough that he could secure him with a rope and load him into the plane for a flight back to Anchorage for a reunion with his owners. "That sucker punch in our stomachs for nine days and afterwards it was just like this huge weight lifted off your shoulder. It's just amazing to have him back home," Amber Eckle said. UPI
UPI
16-07-2025
- General
- UPI
Watch: Dog lost in Alaskan wilderness found by pilot nine days later
July 16 (UPI) -- A dog who went missing during a camping trip in Alaska was found over a week later by a pilot who decided to go searching in his small plane. Soldotna residents Lewis and Amber Ekle said they were camping near Carmen Lake over the Fourth of July weekend when their dog, Koda, became spooked and ran off. "We tried to grab his collar," Lewis Ekle told KTUU-TV. "He grabbed his frisbee ... and said, 'No, I'm out.'" The couple spent nine days searching for Koda on foot and by boat, but they couldn't find any sign of the canine. They posted about the missing dog in several different Facebook groups, getting the attention of multiple volunteer searchers, including pilot John Kagerer. "I just had a real feeling. I don't know, a gut feeling that I was going to find the dog," Kagerer said. The pilot landed his plane about a half mile from where Koda disappeared, and the dog appeared within minutes. "Here comes the dog out of the alders over to me, you know. But it wouldn't get any closer than about 10 feet to me," Kagerer said. He used some dog treats he kept in his plane to lure Koda to come close enough that he could secure him with a rope and load him into the plane for a flight back to Anchorage for a reunion with his owners. "That sucker punch in our stomachs for nine days and afterwards it was just like this huge weight lifted off your shoulder. It's just amazing to have him back home," Amber Eckle said.
Straits Times
14-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
‘Some cannot source outside China': S'pore firms' challenges and support needed amid US tariffs
Koda is a Singapore-listed furniture firm with operations in Malaysia, China and – most crucially – Vietnam. SINGAPORE – For the past three months, business owner Ernie Koh has been cycling through various scenarios in his head, pending finalisation of tariff rates for Vietnam. Mr Koh is director of Koda, a Singapore-listed furniture firm with operations in Malaysia, China and – most crucially – Vietnam, which struck a trade deal with the Trump administration on July 2. He has scenarios for both good and bad outcomes for Vietnam, and more 'what-ifs' that pit Vietnam against other markets that his competitors operate in, such as India, Malaysia and Indonesia. But the lack of detail on the tariffs and how other countries will be affected has created something of a Rubik's cube for firms trying to navigate these testing new waters. When US President Donald Trump declared sweeping global tariffs in April and warned countries not to sneak Chinese products into America through false declarations, Mr Koh asked his import shipping company to detail the amount of Chinese-sourced material in his products. 'It's only 6 per cent. Some of the fabric you cannot source anywhere outside of China,' he said, pointing out that there are four or five Singapore companies making furniture in Vietnam. The US is the biggest export market for Vietnam, and the biggest buyer of its furniture. The country has won a reduced 20 per cent tariff on its goods to the US, and 40 per cent on transshipped goods. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Mr Koh hopes the Singapore Government will turn its eye to businesses like his – Singapore-registered but operating overseas – that have traditionally been seen as successful and needing little support. The Singapore Economic Resilience Taskforce set up to help businesses ride out these challenges on July 10 announced the Business Adaptation Grant, which will disburse up to $100,000 to a firm on a co-funding basis. Koda, if deemed eligible, could expect help in areas like trade compliance advisory, contracts, supply chains and market diversification. It could also get a lift for costs in logistics and inventory holding. But the task force also noted that a bigger scoop of the pot will go to local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which account for more jobs. Details are expected in October. The Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (ASME) and Singapore Business Federation have been ramping up support through advisory services, workshops with trade experts to evaluate cost and regulatory risks in alternative hubs like Indonesia and India, as well as trade missions and symposiums. Some of the assistance is to mitigate competition from Chinese businesses, which have turned their attention to markets outside the US to invest in and sell their goods. Local businesses have never been cornered like this until now, where trade pressures, technological disruption and intensifying competition from Johor arrive in a perfect storm, said ASME president Ang Yuit. The association has observed that companies are activating diversification plans in the wake of the tariff that the US is imposing on Vietnam goods. The immediate challenge is 'managing potential 20 to 40 per cent cost increases for US customers due to tariffs and transshipment classifications', it said in response to queries from The Straits Times. ASME added that it is accelerating its internationalisation support to help smaller firms look beyond Singapore, which includes aggregating SMEs into overseas projects. But Mr Ang sees a silver lining: With the US tariffs expected to last, he believes Chinese investors will turn less opportunistic and more earnest about local integration. Chinese firms that tap into only their home country's supply chain and hire Chinese-speaking managers will find that they have reached a ceiling if they do not open up, he added. 'Chinese and Singaporean firms will partner more deeply to navigate compliance, build mutual value, and jointly access wider markets, making the quality and integration of the investment more significant,' he said. Mr Ang hopes policymakers will take a comprehensive relook at a range of policies, ranging from trade and tax rules, to SME competitiveness and regional integration. Rather than providing direct offsets to tariff impacts, ASME believes that support should focus on enabling diversification and long-term capital investment. To address immediate needs, targeted tax policy adjustments like enhanced capital allowances or greater deductibility can ease cash flow for companies needing to reinvest or relocate, it said. In the longer term, ASME said Singapore must review economic policies such as tax rules to align with the structural reconfiguration of global trade. Koda's Mr Koh hopes the Government will share financing and export risks with Singapore businesses. 'Especially for a manufacturer, sometimes you've got to give (credit) terms to your customer, and sometimes also to your supplier,' he added. 'So you're double financing front-end and back-end, and then you are very tight on your cash. If one of the big guys go under, they may drag you down.' Mr Koh's hands would also be tied if he wants to move capacity from one high-tariff jurisdiction to a lower-tariff one: 'If I want to increase my capacity in Malaysia, I need capital, I need to expand my factory.' Export insurance rates are also being scrutinised as insurers turn cautious, he said. Dr Deborah Elms, who heads trade policy at the Hinrich Foundation in Singapore, said continuing threats and changes to tariff timelines have made it difficult for companies to plan. She said: 'Some have accelerated production to ship products to the US while tariffs are lower. Others have stopped or postponed production until they have greater clarity. 'But uncertainty has a cost as well, including a lack of investment for new capacity.' Business are having to figure out how they are being penalised in respect to other nations in the same market. Dr Elms said: 'For clothing and textiles, for example, what matters is not just the rate given to Vietnam, but also the rates for Bangladesh, Cambodia and China. 'Any tariff is a challenge for firms, but one that hits all imports equally or nearly equally is not as damaging as one that hits your producers the hardest with the highest rates.' In Mr Koh's case, his American customers are showing him products that were made in China and asking if his firm – a specialist in dining sets – could make them in Vietnam. That should be good news, except that these customers are also asking him to split the costs of the tariffs. 'All the customers say, 'Let's share the tariff 50-50'. If the tariff is 10 per cent, the only way for us to win back the 5 per cent is to generate efficiency in our factory to cover up that 5 per cent. But manufacturing margins are not very fat,' he said. 'So, business is good, but profit may be an issue.' His customers – the retailers and distributors – will take the savings from his Vietnam imports to help cover the smaller profits in high-tariff countries such as China. 'The customers take from Peter and give it to Paul,' he surmised. While waiting for clarity on where tariffs will land, the best bet for business owners is to keep their balance sheet strong and reserve their gunpowder for when times get better, said Mr Koh.
