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Wire stories category, Page 99

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Man brings support clown to his layoff meeting
A man working at a New Zealand advertising agency had a funny way of dealing with his own firing. The unidentified adman was permitted to have someone at his side for support in a meeting where his job was being terminated, reports the New Zealand Herald. Rather than choosing a...
U.S., China exchange goodwill gesture ahead of trade talks
WASHINGTON — The United States and China traded conciliatory gestures, raising hopes they can de-escalate a standoff over trade that has shaken financial markets and cast gloom over the global economy. In Beijing, China’s Commerce Ministry said Thursday that Chinese importers are asking U.S. suppliers for prices of soybeans, pork...
Report: Uber sacks hundreds of workers from engineering and product units
SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Francisco ride-hailing giant Uber has laid off 435 workers from its engineering and product units as it seeks to create “lean” teams, according to a new report. The company, which last month announced a $5 billion loss for this year’s second quarter, has shown the...
Apple unveils a cheaper iPhone and pricing for streaming TV
CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple unveiled new iPhones that are largely unchanged from previous models and accompanied by an unexpected price cut for the cheapest model, underscoring the company’s efforts to counteract a sales slump of its flagship product. The company’s new models are so similar to last year’s lineup they...
New Hampshire’s Republican governor signs bill banning oil, gas drilling
RYE, N.H. — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has signed a bill prohibiting offshore oil and gas drilling in the state’s coastal waters. Sununu, a Republican, has opposed President Donald Trump’s proposal to expand oil and gas development nationwide. In signing the bill Tuesday, Sununu said the administration has assured...
Charging Bull’s creator will oversee repairs after vandal’s attack
NEW YORK — The artist who created New York’s Charging Bull sculpture will oversee repairs to the gash left when a vandal attacked the bronze statue with an imitation banjo, the head of a business group said Tuesday. Artist Arturo Di Modica will travel from his studio in Sicily at...
With little change, iPhones may get upstaged by Apple streaming
CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple is expected to unveil three new iPhone models that are so similar to last year’s lineup, they may be upstaged by details about the company’s upcoming video service. The company will show off its latest iPhones Tuesday at a products showcase in Cupertino, California. But the...
British Airways grounds nearly all flights as pilots strike
LONDON — British Airways says it has had to cancel almost all flights as a result of a pilots’ 48-hour strike over pay. In a statement Monday, the airline said it had “no way of predicting how many (pilots) would come to work or which aircraft they are qualified to...
Fed Chairman Powell says he doesn’t expect recession
WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Friday that the Fed is not expecting a U.S. or global recession. But it is monitoring a number of uncertainties, including trade conflicts, and will “act as appropriate to sustain the expansion.” Powell gave an upbeat view of the U.S. economy during...
CVS, Walgreens urge against openly carrying guns in stores
NEW YORK — Drug chains CVS and Walgreens as well as grocery chain Wegmans Food Market have joined the chorus of retailers requesting that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms in their stores even where state laws allow it. The announcements on Thursday follow similar moves by Walmart, the nation’s...
Trump administration pushes plan to privatize Fannie, Freddie
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has proposed its plan for ending government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant mortgage finance companies that nearly collapsed in the financial crisis 11 years ago and were bailed out at a total cost to taxpayers of $187 billion. The administration’s...
MGM Resorts, Buffalo Wild Wings launch mobile football game
LAS VEGAS — A casino company and a nationwide sports bar are launching a mobile football game designed to let customers pick favorite NFL teams, choose weekly fantasy performers and make proposition picks. MGM Resorts International and Buffalo Wild Wings said their partnership, called Roar Digital, will offer a sports...
YouTube to pay $170M fine after violating kids’ privacy law 
WASHINGTON — Google will pay $170 million to settle allegations its YouTube video service collected personal data on children without their parents’ consent. The company agreed to work with video creators to label material aimed at kids and said it will limit data collection when users view such videos, regardless...
Judge orders Anheuser-Busch to halt ‘corn syrup’ labels
MILWAUKEE — A federal judge has ordered Anheuser-Busch to stop using packaging that implies MillerCoors’ light beers contain corn syrup. U.S. District Judge William Conley granted a preliminary injunction sought by MillerCoors. Bud Light’s packaging says “No Corn Syrup” in bold letters. Conley says Anheuser-Busch can use the packaging it...
In escalating trade war, U.S. consumers may see higher prices
WASHINGTON — The United States and China on Sunday put in place their latest tariff increases on each other’s goods, potentially raising prices Americans pay for some clothes, shoes, sporting goods and other consumer items before the holiday shopping season. President Donald Trump said U.S.-China trade talks were still on...
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey hacked; account sent racist tweets
SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has found his official account hacked and sending racist and vulgar tweets to his 4.2 million followers. The person tweeting from Dorsey’s account on Friday sent tweets such as “Hitler is innocent” and, using a vulgarity, asked “bald skeleton head,” referring to Dorsey,...
TVs to shoes: This time consumers face pain of Trump tariffs
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s trade war with China, until now mainly an abstraction for American consumers, is about to hit home. Beginning Sunday, the U.S. government will begin collecting 15% tariffs on $112 billion in Chinese imports — items ranging from smartwatches and TVs to shoes, diapers, sporting goods...
No. 1 reason patients don’t fill their prescriptions: sticker shock
WASHINGTON — It’s the No. 1 reason patients don’t fill their prescriptions: sticker shock. While the price of almost any good or service can be found online, most Americans don’t know what they’ll owe for a prescription medication until they get it. Unexpected costs contribute to the estimated 20 to...
Facebook tightens political ad rules, but leaves loopholes
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook is tightening its rules around political advertising ahead of the 2020 presidential election, acknowledging previous misuse. But it’s not clear if it will be enough to stop bad actors from abusing its system. The changes include a tightened verification process that will require anyone wanting to...
Ex-Google engineer Anthony Levandowski charged in Uber self-driving theft case
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A former Google engineer was charged Tuesday with stealing self-driving car technology from the company shortly before he joined Uber’s efforts to catch up in the high-stakes race to build robotic vehicles. The indictment filed by the U.S. attorney’s office in San Jose, Calif., is an...
KFC partners with Beyond Meat for first plant-based ‘chicken’
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It’s finger lickin’ fake chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken plans to test plant-based chicken nuggets and boneless wings Tuesday at one of its restaurants in Atlanta. Depending on customer feedback, the chain could expand the test to other markets. California-based startup Beyond Meat said it developed the new...
Target teams up with Disney to open shops
NEW YORK — Target is hoping to bring the magic of such characters as Mickey Mouse and Elsa to its own customers by opening permanent Disney shops at a cluster of stores starting this fall. As part of the collaboration with The Walt Disney Co., the Minneapolis-based discounter says it...
U.S. tech industry becomes hotbed for employee activism
SAN FRANCISCO — When Liz O’Sullivan was hired at the New York City-based artificial intelligence company Clarifai in 2017, she felt lucky to find work at the intersection of two of her main interests: technology and ethics. Two years later, she found herself facing a moral dilemma. Clarifai was developing...
AARP chief: How living to 100 changes our ideas about aging
Jo Ann Jenkins is the CEO of AARP, the world’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization. AARP is focused on helping people “improve their quality of life” as they age; it has more than 38 million members. Jenkins joined AARP in 2010 and became CEO in 2014. Previously she was chief...
Return of the king: Salmon rebounds after California drought
SAN FRANCISCO — Trolling off the California coast, Sarah Bates leans over the side of her boat and pulls out a long, silvery fish prized by anglers and seafood lovers: wild king salmon. Reeling in a fish “feels good every time,” but this year has been surprisingly good, said Bates,...


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