Business category, Page 258

Federal officials plan to ease restrictions on flying small drones over crowds and at night, which would give a boost to the commercial use of unmanned aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration outlined draft rules Monday that would let drone operators do those things without a special waiver from current rules....

PNC Bank has reached a “definitive agreement” with Ambassador Financial Group Inc. to purchase the Allentown-based broker-dealer, PNC announced Monday. Upon closing in the second quarter of 2019, Ambassador Financial Group will become a subsidiary of PNC Bank. Ambassador is a provider of balance sheet management, investment banking and capital...

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix is raising its U.S. prices by 13 percent to 18 percent, its biggest increase since the company launched its streaming service 12 years ago. Its most popular plan will see the largest hike, to $13 per month from $11. That option offers high-definition streaming on up...

Airbnb Inc. said it made money for a second straight year, based on a common measure that excludes some expenses, as the online home-rental service prepares for an initial public offering. Airbnb said in a memo that it generated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in 2018. A spokesperson...

HOUSTON — Oceans choked with discarded plastics. Beached whales found with hundreds of pieces of plastics in their stomachs. Soil contaminated by tiny fragments of plastics. The Houston Chronicle reports as environmentalists, corporations and the public increasingly focus on the mass of plastics discarded every day, they are running into...

German automaker Volkswagen said Monday its factory in Tennessee will be the focus of an $800 million investment in the company’s manufacturing of electric vehicles in North America. Volkswagen made a couple of announcements that will expand its plant in Chattanooga and create 1,000 jobs there as the factory gears...

A photo of an egg, just an ordinary egg, became the most-liked photo on Instagram Sunday night, toppling the previous mark set by a photo posted by reality television personality and model Kylie Jenner. “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram,” the post,...

NEW YORK — Citigroup is reporting its profits rose by 9 percent on an adjusted basis from a year earlier, helped by a lower tax rate and a reduction in expenses. Citi said Monday it earned $4.31 billion in the last three months of 2018, or a profit of $1.64...

DETROIT — SUVs and a big pickup truck will get top billing at Detroit’s auto show this year, but there are some surprise sports cars and electric vehicles on the agenda. Press days for the show begin Monday, although there are a couple of unveils set for before the show...

SAN FRANCISCO — Facing potentially colossal liabilities over deadly California wildfires, PG&E will file for bankruptcy protection. The announcement Monday follows the resignation of the power company’s chief executive a day earlier. Shares plunged by 50 percent before the opening bell. PG&E said Monday that it’s given the required 15-day...

DENVER — The publisher of USA Today has received a $1.36 billion buyout bid from a media group with a history of taking over struggling newspapers and slashing jobs. MNG Enterprises, better known as Digital First Media, said in a letter to Gannett Co. Monday that its leadership team has...

BEIJING — China’s 2018 trade surplus with the United States surged to a record $323.3 billion but exports contracted in December as the delayed impact of President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes started to hurt demand. Exports to the United States in 2018 rose 11.3 percent to $478.4 billion despite Trump’s...

The post-Internet era has ushered in generations of socially awkward adults who’ve long leaned on technology for their social kicks. But as millennials age out of college, many adults have found themselves … well, painfully lonely. And tech companies have taken note. Technology titans and fledgling startups alike — including...

WASHINGTON, Pa. — An international chemical company has announced plans to shut down a western Pennsylvania plant, cutting about 160 jobs and relocating 50 more. Ferro Corp. said Friday the Canton Township plant in Washington County that produces functional coatings and color solutions will close in late 2019 or early...

Elliott Group Chief Operating Officer Michael Lordi has been named CEO of the Jeannette-based company. Lordi succeeds outgoing CEO Yasuyuki Uruma, who has retired after 47 years with the Elliott Group and its parent company, the Tokyo-based Ebara Corp. “Going forward, we will continue to strengthen the Elliott brand by...

DETROIT — General Motors strengthened its pretax profit estimate for 2018 and predicted even stronger performance for this year as it executives made a presentation to investors on Friday. Shares jumped 7 percent at the opening bell. CEO Mary Barra also says the company doesn’t foresee any further job cuts...

WASHINGTON — Consumer prices slipped 0.1 percent last month, pulled down by sharply lower gas prices and cheaper air fares, used cars, and mobile phone plans. The Labor Department said the consumer price index rose just 1.9 percent in December from a year earlier, the first time it has fallen...

Full-service restaurants, facing higher labor and food costs, raised prices the most in more than seven years in December, a Labor Department report released Friday shows. As grocery costs rise at a slower pace, that could push more U.S. consumers to eat at home, potentially shifting sales away from sit-down...

TOKYO — Nissan ex-Chairman Carlos Ghosn was charged Friday with breach of trust in the latest blow for the star executive, according to the Tokyo District Court. Ghosn was detained Nov. 19. Earlier, he was charged with falsifying financial reports in underreporting his income by about 5 billion yen ($44...

BERLIN — A German court has ordered Amazon to stop taking orders from customers using wireless-enabled buttons because they breach e-commerce rules. The Munich regional court ruled Thursday that Amazon’s Dash buttons fail to provide customers with necessary information, such as the price of the product they are purchasing. Amazon...

LAS VEGAS — Robots that walk, talk, pour beer and play pingpong have taken over the CES gadget show in Las Vegas again. Just don’t expect to find one in your home any time soon. Most home robot ventures have failed, in part because they’re so difficult and expensive to...

Happy with your service, you can still tip your Frontier Airlines flight attendant. Frontier Airlines has been allowing tips on items purchased in-flight for three years, but as of the beginning of the year the tips can now be kept by the individual attendant, rather than pooled and split as...

FRANKFURT, Germany — Ford Motor Co. said Thursday it is cutting jobs in Europe as it reshapes its business to focus on more profitable commercial trucks and SUVs while shifting production to electric cars over the longer term. On a day that Jaguar Land Rover also announced it is cutting...

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover said Thursday it will cut 4,500 jobs as the carmaker addresses slowing demand in China and growing uncertainty about the U.K.’s departure from the European Union. The luxury carmaker, owned by India’s Tata conglomerate, said the cuts will be in addition to 1,500 people who...

DES MOINES, Iowa — Farmers already reeling from low prices and uncertainty amid the nation’s trade dispute with China are welcoming a decision to extend a deadline for federal aid because of the partial government shutdown. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Purdue on Tuesday announced the Agriculture Department would extend a...