Wire stories category, Page 113
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...
JPMorgan Chase offered customers some financial advice. It didn’t go well.Video
JPMorgan Chase, the country’s largest bank, attempted to offer its financially-strapped customers some advice Monday. It quickly backfired. If their balances are low, the bank suggested customers “make coffee at home” or “eat the food that’s already in the fridge.” JPMorgan Chase’s brief attempt at levity turned into a social...
Marriott looks to challenge Airbnb with push into home-sharing
Marriott is pushing more heavily into home-sharing, confident that its combination of luxury properties and loyalty points can lure travelers away from rivals like Airbnb. The world’s biggest hotel company will soon start taking reservations through its website for 2,000 homes in 100 markets in the U.S., Europe and Latin...
Burger King may sell plant-based burger across U.S.
TORONTO — Burger King could soon be selling plant-based burgers nationwide. Restaurant Brands International, Burger King’s parent, said Monday that a month-long test of the Impossible Whopper at 59 restaurants in St. Louis has gone so well that it will start testing it in additional markets. The company said it...
‘Land no one else wants’ gets solar as coal, nukes fade away
For two decades, coal has been pulled from a Bent Mountain mine in eastern Kentucky. But in a startling move in the heart of coal country, a rival — solar — is preparing to move on to the land. From Appalachia in the United States to Queensland in Australia and...
Westmoreland small-business owners explore co-working conceptsVideo
Deb Cavrak was sitting at home in Penn Township where she runs her business, Design Quack, when she decided there were too many distractions around to properly concentrate on work. Lisa Lauer of Greensburg, a travel agent and owner of Vida Adventures, was having a similar experience. “When you’re at...
Vacant land becoming asset as development returns to Detroit
DETROIT — When Fiat Chrysler began considering where to build its next assembly plant, the automaker didn’t have to look far to find land. A short walk from its Jefferson North plant on Detroit’s east side is 200 acres (80 hectares) of land the company is eyeing as part of...
Amazon to bring 1-day delivery to Prime members
Two-day delivery is going out of style. Amazon, which hooked shoppers on getting just about anything shipped in two days, said this week that it will soon promise one-day delivery for its U.S. Prime members on most items. The company hopes that cutting delivery times in half will make its...
3M shares post biggest 1-day drop in decades
ST PAUL, Minn. — Shares in 3M posted the biggest one-day drop in decades after the company reported first quarter results that fell short of Wall Street projections. The company also announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring due to a slower-than-expected 2019. The maker...
Southwest Airlines grapples with financial fallout from Boeing 737 Max grounding
Airlines are struggling to deal with the financial fallout from the extended grounding of the Boeing 737 Max commercial jetliner, now in its seventh week. Southwest and American Airlines, the two U.S. airlines that owned 737 Max 8 aircraft when they were grounded on March 13, both report earnings this...
UPS shares tumble as earnings fall short
DALLAS — United Parcel Service Inc. reported Thursday that first-quarter profit fell 17% as revenue was flat from a year ago and the package-delivery company ran into higher spending to cope with a series of winter storms. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations, and the shares tumbled in...
