Wire stories category, Page 113
Amazon to employees: We’ll pay you to quit and haul packages
NEW YORK — Amazon, which is racing to deliver packages faster, is turning to its employees with a proposition: Quit your job and we’ll help you start a business delivering Amazon packages. The offer, announced Monday, comes as Amazon seeks to speed up its shipping time from two days to...
Uber’s hyped-up IPO hits potholes on 1st day
NEW YORK — After much hype leading up to the largest initial public offering in five years, Uber hit a few potholes on its first day of trading, closing down 8% and reflecting lingering doubts about its future prospects for profitability. The ride-hailing company injected investors with a dose of...
Stocks rebound as hopes rise that trade tensions will ease
Major U.S. stock indexes turned higher in late afternoon trading Friday, shaking off an early slump triggered by the latest escalation in the trade war between the U.S. and China. The market fell sharply in the early going after the U.S. raised tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods...
Here’s how tariffs on Chinese goods will affect U.S. consumers
WASHINGTON — With the Trump administration more than doubling tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese imports, will Americans soon see higher prices on store shelves? Yes, but it may take a few weeks. U.S. import taxes on $200 billion of Chinese goods jumped to 25% on Friday, from 10%,...
Rihanna to launch groundbreaking new fashion label with LVMH
NEW YORK — Rihanna certified her status as a cultural fashion icon with her groundbreaking new deal with LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group. The pop star, born Robyn Rihanna Fenty, announced Friday that she will debut a line called Fenty this spring through LVMH. Her...
Coal’s slide to continue in U.S. as renewables fill the gap
BILLINGS, Mont. — U.S. demand for coal to generate electricity will continue its slide in coming months despite efforts by the Trump administration to prop up the struggling industry, federal officials said Thursday. Renewable energy sources are expected to fill much of the gap left by coal’s decline, according to...
China Mobile blocked from offering phone service in U.S.
U.S. communications regulators on Thursday rejected a Chinese telecom company’s application to provide service in the U.S. due to national security risks amid an escalation in tensions between the two countries. The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday voted unanimously, 5-0 across party lines, to reject China Mobile International USA Inc.’s...
U.S. sanctions to hit Iran’s metals industry, a major employer
TEHRAN, Iran — U.S. sanctions have targeted Iran’s government, its paramilitary forces and the oil exports that fund them. Now they are hitting its vital steel, aluminum, copper and iron industries. The new sanctions, imposed as Tehran announced its partial withdrawal from its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, seem...
High-tech sex toy for women wins back a rescinded award
ARLINGTON, Va. — A trade group has reinstated an award to the makers of a robotic sex toy for women that it had taken away four months ago for not keeping with its image. The Consumer Technology Association on Wednesday restored the Consumer Electronics Show’s 2019 Innovation Award in the...
Schick owner buys Harry’s in new shaving war alliance
NEW YORK — The owner of Schick razors is acquiring upstart shaving company Harry’s for $1.37 billion, continuing a trend of consolidation in the shaving industry, where established brands have struggled with the rise of digital-savvy newcomers. About 79% of the deal is cash, and the remainder stock. Harry’s has...
Uber and Lyft drivers strike for pay transparency
SAN FRANCISCO – Uber and Lyft drivers in multiple cities nationwide launched strikes and demonstrations Wednesday to lobby for better pay and transparency. The demonstrations, which could prove disruptive to riders and raise the profile of movements to secure better driver pay and benefits, highlight a contradiction: Technology has long...
Walmart raises minimum age to buy tobacco to 21
NEW YORK — Walmart said Wednesday that it will raise the minimum age to buy tobaccoproducts and e-cigarettes at its U.S. stores to 21 amid growing pressure from regulators to cut tobacco sales and use among minors. The world’s largest retailer also said it will also stop selling fruit and...
Oops! Small businesses are vulnerable to marketing mistakes
NEW YORK — When Tom Scarda heard about a franchise opportunity called Super Supper, he fell in love with it. He was so confident that he and his business partner decided against researching the concept — a marketing mistake that led to the failure of the business. “It was great...
Burn victims sue Conagra after cans of Pam cooking spray explode
DETROIT — Eight burn victims sued the maker of Pam cooking spray Tuesday, saying they were severely injured when cans of the spray exploded in their kitchens. The plaintiffs’ attorney, J. Craig Smith, says larger cans of Pam and similar cooking sprays made by Conagra Brands have a faulty, U-shaped...
Worsening U.S.-China trade tensions rattle financial marketsVideo
The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 470 points Tuesday amid a broad sell-off on Wall Street as the United States and China moved closer to an escalation of their already costly trade war. The United States was set to impose higher tariffs on China on Friday, a day...
Google expected to show off new hardware, AI at annual event
SAN FRANCISCO — Google CEO Sundar Pichai is expected to showcase much-anticipated updates to the company’s hardware lines and artificial intelligence. Google will also likely address privacy updates as concerns about data sharing continue to plague the tech industry. Facebook dedicated much of its own conference last week to addressing...
Warren Buffett says trade war with China would be bad for world
OMAHA, Neb. — Investor Warren Buffett says if the U.S. has a full-blown trade war with China, it will be bad for the entire world. Buffett appeared on CNBC Monday with Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who serves on Berkshire’s board. Over the weekend,...
Boeing held off for months on disclosing faulty alert on 737 Max
Boeing knew months before a deadly 737 Max crash that a cockpit alert wasn’t working the way the company had told buyers of the single-aisle jetliner. But the planemaker didn’t share its findings with airlines or the Federal Aviation Administration until after a Lion Air plane went down off the...
Trump threatens to raise Chinese tariffs to 25% this week
WASHINGTON — President Trump turned up the pressure on China on Sunday, threatening to hike tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. Trump’s comments, delivered on Twitter, came as a Chinese delegation was scheduled to resume talks in Washington on Wednesday aimed at resolving a trade war that has...
U.S. adds robust 263K jobs; unemployment at 49-year low: 3.6%
WASHINGTON — U.S. employers added a robust 263,000 jobs in April, suggesting that businesses have shrugged off earlier concerns that the economy might slow this year and anticipate strong customer demand. The unemployment rate fell to a five-decade low of 3.6% from 3.8%, though that drop partly reflected an increase...
Facebook bans ‘dangerous individuals’ cited for hate speech
SAN FRANCISCO — After years of pressure to crack down on hate and bigotry, Facebook has banned Louis Farrakhan, Alex Jones and other extremists, saying they violated its ban on “dangerous individuals.” The company also removed right-wing personalities Paul Nehlen, Milo Yiannopoulos, Paul Joseph Watson and Laura Loomer, along with...
Maine becomes 1st state to ban single-use foam containers
AUGUSTA — Maine has banned single-use food and drink containers made from polystyrene foam, commonly known as Styrofoam, becoming the first state to do so. Democratic Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill, which takes effect in 2021, into law Tuesday. Environmental groups have sought such bans amid rising public awareness...
London marathon runners quench thirst with sports drink in edible seaweed pods
No, the runners did not have to eat them, but they could. The golf ball-sized pouches made from seaweed and filled with a sports drink were handed out to thousands of runners for the London marathon on April 28. The marathon offered “race organizers and company officials a mass experiment...
Fed signals neither a rate hike nor a cut is likely soon
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday and signaled that it’s unlikely to either raise or cut rates in coming months amid signs of renewed economic health but unusually low inflation. The Fed left its benchmark rate — which influences many consumer and business loans...
Apple’s fiscal 2Q revenue, profit sag amid iPhone slump
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple’s sales are still shrinking amid weakening iPhone demand, despite the company’s effort to emphasize services designed to bring in a steady flow of money from the 1.4 billion of its devices still in use. Revenue for the January-March quarter fell 5% from the same time in...
