Wire stories category, Page 43
ByHeart recalls baby formula because of potential bacterial contamination risk
A company that makes baby formula has voluntarily issued a recall of five batches “out of an abundance of caution” after a third-party packaging facility sample tested positive for the bacteria, cronobacter sakazakii. ByHeart said none of its product has tested positive for bacteria and the recall is not related...
FTX’s Bankman-Fried charged by U.S. for scheme to defraud
NEW YORK — U.S. prosecutors charged Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with a host of financial crimes and campaign finance violations on Tuesday, alleging he played a central role in the rapid collapse of FTX and hid its problems from the public and investors....
Wall Street closes higher after inflation cooled in November
NEW YORK — Stocks on Wall Street finished higher Tuesday after a report showed inflation cooled more than expected last month, cementing expectations that the Federal Reserve is about to dial down the size of its interest rate hikes. The encouraging inflation data raised hopes for easing pressure on the...
U.S. inflation slowed sharply to 7.1% over past 12 months
WASHINGTON — Inflation in the United States slowed again last month in the latest sign that price increases are cooling despite the pressures they continue to inflict on American households. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in November from a year ago, the government said Tuesday. That was down sharply from 7.7%...
Musk’s Twitter disbands its Trust and Safety advisory group
Elon Musk’s Twitter has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council, the advisory group of around 100 independent civil, human rights and other organizations that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform. The council had been scheduled to meet...
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas
NEW YORK — The former CEO of failed cryptocurrency firm FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, was arrested Monday in the Bahamas at the request of the U.S. government, U.S. and Bahamian authorities. Bankman-Fried had been under criminal investigation by the two countries following the collapse last month of FTX. The firm filed...
Wall Street rises ahead of year’s last barrage of rate hikes
Stocks closed higher Monday as Wall Street kicked off a busy week when central banks are likely to unload the year’s final barrage of interest-rate hikes meant to drive down the world’s painfully high inflation. The S&P 500 rallied 1.4%, trimming its loss for the year to 16.3%. The Dow...
U.S. reports another Takata air bag death, bringing toll to 33
DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators are urging drivers once again to make sure their vehicles haven’t been recalled after another person was killed by an exploding Takata air bag. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday that the person was killed in a crash involving a 2002 Honda Accord...
Fight to curb food waste increasingly turns to science
Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help. Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste. Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing digital...
New York Times journalists, other workers on 24-hour strike
NEW YORK — More than 1,000 New York Times journalists and other staff walked off the job for 24 hours Thursday, frustrated by contract negotiations that have dragged on for months in the newspaper’s biggest labor dispute in more than 40 years. Hundreds of reporters, editors, photographers and other employees...
FTC sues to block Microsoft-Activision Blizzard $69B merger
The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued to block Microsoft’s planned $69 billion takeover of video game company Activision Blizzard, saying it could suppress competitors to Microsoft’s Xbox game console and its growing games subscription business. The FTC’s challenge could be a test case for President Joe Biden’s mandate to...
New York Times journalists, other workers on 24-hour strike
NEW YORK — Hundreds of New York Times journalists and other staff walked off the job for 24 hours Thursday, frustrated by contract negotiations that have dragged on for months in the newspaper’s biggest labor dispute in more than 40 years. Reporters, editors, photographers and other employees planned a rally...
Could trawler cams help save world’s dwindling fish stocks?
PORTLAND, Maine — For years, Mark Hager’s job as an observer aboard New England fishing boats made him a marked man, seen as a meddling cop on the ocean, counting and scrutinizing every cod, haddock and flounder to help set crucial quotas. On one particularly perilous voyage, he spent 12...
Juul reaches settlements covering more than 5,000 cases
Juul Labs has reached settlements covering more than 5,000 cases brought by about 10,000 plaintiffs related to its vaping products. Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but Juul said that it has secured an equity investment to fund it. Juul rocketed to the top of the U.S. vaping...
Lensa’s magic-avatar portraits are all over social media
With people sharing AI-generated portraits on social media, attention is being drawn to the Lensa AI photo app. The app, from Prisma AI, has been around since 2018, but the new “magic avatar” feature debuted last month. The feature creates highly-stylized portraits that users share on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok....
Holmes’ former partner faces sentencing in Theranos case
A former Theranos executive learns Wednesday whether he will be punished as severely as his former lover and business partner for peddling the company’s bogus blood-testing technology that duped investors and endangered patients. The sentencing for Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, who was convicted in July of fraud and conspiracy, comes less...
Millennial Money: How credit can beat buy now, pay later
At first glance, a “buy now, pay later” plan’s promise of no interest or upfront fees can seem more appealing than a credit card’s terms. Dividing a transaction into, say, a pay-in-four installment plan sounds straightforward and manageable. Unlike credit cards, though, these plans lack certain consumer protections and are...
Meta oversight board urges changes to VIP moderation system
LONDON — Facebook parent Meta’s quasi-independent oversight board said Tuesday that an internal system that exempted high-profile users, including former U.S. President Donald Trump, from some or all of its content moderation rules needs a major overhaul. The report by the Oversight Board, which was more than a year in...
Russian oil price cap, EU ban aim to limit Kremlin war chest
FRANKFURT, Germany — Major Western measures to limit Russia’s oil profits over the war in Ukraine took effect Monday, bringing with them uncertainty about how much crude could be lost to the world and whether they will unleash the hoped-for hit to a Russian economy that has held up better...
U.S. futures inch down, oil higher after Russia price cap pact
U.S. futures dipped and oil prices rose Monday after the European Union and the Group of Seven democracies agreed on a boycott of most Russian oil and committed to a price cap of $60 per barrel on Russian exports. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials and the S&P 500 were...
As Musk is learning, content moderation is a messy job
Now that he’s back on Twitter, neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin wants somebody to explain the rules. Anglin, the founder of an infamous neo-Nazi website, was reinstated Thursday, one of many previously banned users to benefit from an amnesty granted by Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk. The next day, Musk banished Ye,...
Stocks set to drop after jobs data fans inflation worries
Wall Street is set to fall when trading opens Friday on renewed worries about inflation after a report showed wages for U.S. workers are accelerating faster than expected. Futures for U.S. stock indexes fell sharply immediately after the government released the stronger-than-expected data on both wages and hiring. The report...
U.S. hiring stayed strong in November as employers add 263,000 jobs
WASHINGTON — The nation’s employers kept hiring briskly in November despite high inflation and a slow-growing economy — a sign of resilience in the face of the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes. The economy added 263,000 jobs, while the unemployment rate stayed 3.7%, still near a 53-year low, the...
China fines former NBA star Lin over quarantine comments
BEIJING — Former NBA star Jeremy Lin, who plays for a Chinese team, was fined 10,000 yuan ($1,400) for criticizing quarantine facilities, China’s professional league and a news report said Friday, as the government tries to stop protests against anti-virus controls that are among the world’s most stringent. Also Friday,...
An inflation gauge tracked by the Fed slows to still-high 6%
WASHINGTON — A measure of inflation that is closely monitored by the Federal Reserve eased but remained at an elevated level in October, likely reinforcing the Fed’s intent to keep raising interest rates to cool the economy and slow the acceleration of prices. Thursday’s report from the Commerce Department showed...
