Business category, Page 113
FTC charges Amazon with privacy violations over Alexa and Ring cameras
WASHINGTON — Amazon will pay more than $30 million to settle alleged privacy violations involving its voice assistant Alexa and its doorbell camera Ring. The Federal Trade Commission voted to file charges in two separate cases Wednesday that could also force the company to delete certain data collected by its...
Conservatives call for boycott of Chick-fil-A for being ‘woke’
The latest target of conservative outcry is no longer Target. Hundreds of social media users took to Twitter on Wednesday to call for a boycott of Chick-fil-A over the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) page on the restaurant’s website. “(T)hey Chose Go Woke, Go Broke,” Twitter user MAGA American Patriot...
Job openings surge to 10.1 million, upping odds for Fed hikeVideo
Vacancies at U.S. employers unexpectedly surged in April to the highest in three months, giving the Federal Reserve more reason to consider hiking interest rates again soon. The number of available positions increased to 10.1 million from an upwardly revised 9.75 million in March, the Labor Department’s Job Openings and...
Allegheny Health Network trims losses as patient volume climbs
Allegheny Health Network shrank its losses during the first three months of the year, citing higher patient numbers and increased membership in its insurance units. The 14-hospital system on Wednesday reported an operating loss of $36.2 million for the first quarter compared to a loss of $105.5 million during the...
U.S. safety agency to require auto emergency braking on new vehicles, set tougher standards
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government’s auto safety agency plans to require that all new passenger cars and light trucks include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking and meet stricter safety standards within three years. Wednesday’s announcement by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration represents the agency’s latest move toward regulating electronic...
Master business skills without paying for an MBA
Lindsay Mack earned her bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University in 2005. Nearly 15 years later, when she considered the best way to grow her business acumen, an MBA was not it. Mack, who is from Philadelphia, grew her career without an MBA. When ready to advance her skills in platform...
Amazon workers stage walkout over job cuts, return-to-office mandate
SEATTLE — A group of corporate Amazon workers upset about the company’s environmental impact, recent layoffs and a return-to-office mandate is planning a walkout at the company’s Seattle headquarters Wednesday. The lunchtime protest comes a week after Amazon’s annual shareholder meeting and a month after a policy took effect requiring...
CEOs got smaller raises. It would still take a typical worker 2 lifetimes to make their annual pay
After ballooning for years, CEO pay growth is finally slowing. The typical compensation package for chief executives who run S&P 500 companies rose just 0.9% last year, to a median of $14.8 million, according to data analyzed for The Associated Press by Equilar. That means half the CEOs in the...
IBM, Colgate and 3 other stocks I would sell
My father owned International Business Machines (IBM) stock most of the time from the 1950s to the 1980s. Maybe your father did, too. I hope he did, because IBM shares rose well over one hundred fold in that period. Today, I think IBM and some other well-known names should be...
U.S. ends probe into Tesla allowing video games while vehicles are moving
DETROIT — U.S. highway safety regulators have closed an investigation into Tesla allowing video games to be played on center touch screens while vehicles are moving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says in documents posted Tuesday that Tesla disabled the feature called “passenger play” with an online software update...
Millennial Money: 3 signs you may need a credit card hiatus
When your finances start to spiral and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with credit card payments or build toward financial goals, switching your payment method temporarily to cash or debit could help. Spending with credit cards can stimulate the brain’s reward center and drive you to make more...
Liz Weston: 5 ways to simplify and reduce your money clutter
Professional organizers might define household clutter as a pile of unmade decisions. Money clutter is much the same. Those credit cards you no longer use but haven’t closed? That’s money clutter. So is the retirement account you left behind three jobs ago and the financial paperwork you keep but no...
E.U. official says Twitter abandons bloc’s voluntary pact against disinformation
LONDON — Twitter has dropped out of a voluntary European Union agreement to combat online disinformation, a top EU official said Friday. European Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted that Twitter had pulled out of the E.U.’s disinformation “code of practice” that other major social media platforms have pledged to support. But...
Walgreens laying off 10% of corporate workforce
Walgreens is eliminating 504 corporate jobs, representing about 10% of the retail pharmacy giant’s corporate workforce, the company confirmed late Thursday. The affected jobs are mostly at Walgreens’ Deerfield, Ill., and Chicago offices. The roles represent about 1% of its overall U.S. workforce. “As we continue to transform our business...
UPMC income ticks up during 1st quarter
UPMC reported higher income and revenue during the first three months of the year, citing gains including increased patient volumes and higher enrollment in its insurance products. Still, diminishing pandemic-related government funding and increased labor costs dragged down results, the Pittsburgh-based health care giant said Wednesday. UPMC reported operating income...
Acrisure donates $7.5M to to UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation for heart treatments
Financial technology company Acrisure on Thursday donated $7.5 million to the UPMC Children’s Hospital Foundation to help advance clinical care, research and the patient experience for children and families at the facility’s Heart Institute. The donation is said to be the largest corporate gift received by the foundation. “This is...
Swedish online fashion retailer blocks 42,000 customers for returning too many purchased items
STOCKHOLM — Sweden-based online fashion retailer Bootz AB said Thursday it has blocked 42,000 customers for returning too many items they had purchased, calling their actions too costly for the company and the environment. Ask Kirkeskov Riis, a spokesman for the multi-brand e-commerce webstore selling clothes and beauty products online,...
Microsoft: State-sponsored Chinese hackers could be laying groundwork for disruption
BOSTON — State-backed Chinese hackers have been targeting U.S. critical infrastructure and could be laying the technical groundwork for the potential disruption of critical communications between the U.S. and Asia during future crises, Microsoft said Wednesday. The targets include sites in Guam, where the U.S. has a major military presence,...
3 ways to pay for your summer vacation
A summer vacation can feel like a seasonal rite of passage — a sacred time to break away from the demands of everyday life in favor of fun and relaxation. But summer can also be an expensive time to travel, which makes it hard to budget enough money for your...
Target removes some LGBTQ merchandise from stores ahead of June Pride month after threats to workers
NEW YORK — Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to its LGBTQ merchandise nationwide ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from some customers including violent confrontations with its workers. “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense...
Energy Dept. cancels $200M grant to battery maker after GOP criticism over alleged ties to China
WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has canceled plans to award a $200 million grant to a U.S. battery manufacturer amid criticism from Republican lawmakers over the company’s alleged ties to China. Texas-based Microvast was one of 20 companies to win preliminary grants totaling $2.8 billion to boost domestic manufacturing of...
Meta sells Giphy for $53M to Shutterstock after U.K. blocked GIF platform purchase
WASHINGTON — Shutterstock said Tuesday it’s buying Giphy from Meta Platforms for $53 million, the final step to unwind the deal blocked by British regulators, who prevented the Facebook owner from purchasing the GIF-sharing platform over competition concerns. The stock image service said it’s paying cash for Giphy, which has...
Ford to keep AM radio on ’24 models, restore it on 2 electrics from ’23
DETROIT— Owners of new Ford vehicles will be able to tune in to AM radio in their cars, trucks and SUVs after all. CEO Jim Farley wrote in social media postings Tuesday that the company is reversing a decision to scrub the band after speaking with government policy leaders who...
Robert Coury to step down as Viatris executive chairman
Viatris Inc.’s executive chairman Robert Coury will transition from his current position to chairman emeritus and senior strategic adviser to the board and management, the company announced Monday. The move will follow the pharmaceutical company’s annual shareholder meeting in mid-December. Coury will continue to serve in this new non-employee capacity...
Climate protesters dragged from Shell shareholder meeting as they rush stage
LONDON — Climate change protesters were dragged away as they tried to storm the stage at Shell’s shareholder meeting Tuesday, while activist investors added pressure with a resolution demanding the global oil and gas giant beef up its emissions strategy. Shell Chairman Andrew Mackenzie could not start the meeting for...
