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Wire stories category, Page 17

Pope Francis, first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88
Rite Aid banned from facial recognition tech use for 5 years after faulty theft targeting in stores
Rite Aid has been banned from using facial recognition technology for five years over allegations that its surveillance system was used incorrectly to identify potential shoplifters, especially Black, Latino, Asian or female shoppers. The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission addresses charges that the struggling drugstore chain didn’t do enough...
Toyota recalling 1 million vehicles for potential air bag problem
Toyota Motor Co. said Wednesday it is recalling 1 million vehicles over a defect that could cause airbags not to deploy, increasing the risk of injury. The recall covers a range of Toyota and Lexus vehicles with model years from 2020 to 2022. Included in the recall are Toyota Avalons,...
How to manage holiday spending when you’re dealing with student loan debt
NEW YORK — For Nicole Plauché and her family, Christmas is the time of the year where they can use their preferred love language: gift giving. This year, however, Plauché is worried about how much she can afford to spend on gifts. Her main struggle? Student loan payments. “It just...
Love it or hate it, self-checkout is here to stay. But it’s going through a reckoning
NEW YORK — The promise of self-checkout was alluring: Customers could avoid long lines by scanning and bagging their own items, workers could be freed of doing those monotonous tasks themselves and retailers could save on labor costs. All that has happened since the rollout of self-checkout but so has...
Federal Reserve on cusp of what some thought impossible: Defeating inflation without steep recession
WASHINGTON — It was the most painful inflation Americans had experienced since 1981, when “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Jeffersons” were topping the TV charts. Yet the Federal Reserve now seems on the verge of defeating it — and without the surge in unemployment and the deep recession that...
5 questions that can help guide your holiday tipping
Service workers help make our lives easier throughout the year — whether it’s by keeping our lawns immaculate or babysitting during date nights. The holidays are an ideal time to show gratitude for the work they do throughout the year. But how much do you tip service workers during the...
Dow hits a record high and Treasury yields drop after the Fed signals rate cuts 
NEW YORK — A powerful rally across Wall Street sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average to a record on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve indicated that the cuts to interest rates investors crave so much may be coming next year. The Dow jumped 512 points, or 1.4%, to top 37,000...
Tesla recalls nearly all vehicles sold in U.S. to fix system that monitors drivers using Autopilot
DETROIT — Tesla is recalling nearly all of the vehicles it sold in the U.S., more than 2 million across its model lineup, to fix a defective system that’s supposed to ensure drivers are paying attention when they use Autopilot. Documents posted Wednesday by U.S. safety regulators say the company...
Hasbro cuts 1,100 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, prompted by the ongoing malaise in the toy business
NEW YORK — Toy maker Hasbro said Monday it is cutting about 1,100 jobs, or 20% of its workforce, as the malaise in the toy business extends through another holiday shopping season. The nearly century-old Rhode Island-based company behind Monopoly, Play-Doh and My Little Pony toys disclosed the layoffs in...
How rising prices for restaurants, car repair and other services kept inflation up last month
WASHINGTON — Held down by sinking gas prices, U.S. inflation was mostly unchanged last month. But underlying price pressures — from apartment rents, restaurant meals, auto insurance and many other services — remained stubbornly high. Last month’s inflation data arrived just a day before the Federal Reserve will end a...
Choice Hotels goes hostile in $8 billion takeover bid for Wyndham after being repeatedly rebuffed
Choice Hotels is launching a hostile takeover offer for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts after repeated attempts to reach a deal with the rival hotel chain were rebuffed. Choice Hotels said Tuesday that its exchange offer to shareholders of Wyndham, which runs Days Inn, La Quinta, Ramada and a host of...
McDonald’s testing new CosMc’s chain amid unprecedented global expansion
McDonald’s is testing a new restaurant format with customizable drinks and treats designed to appeal to afternoon snackers — and grab sales from competitors like Starbucks and Dunkin’. The company said Wednesday it will open 10 CosMc’s restaurants through the first half of next year. One will be near the...
CEOs of the nation’s biggest banks warn that new regulations could harm the economy
NEW YORK — The heads of Wall Street’s biggest banks used an appearance on Capitol Hill on Wednesday to plead with senators to stop the Biden administration’s proposed changes to how banks are regulated, warning that the new proposals could negatively impact the economy at a time of geopolitical turmoil...
CVS Health lays out changes to clarify prescription drug pricing that may save some customers money
CVS Health is introducing changes to how its prescription drug pricing model works, and that could lead to some savings for customers starting next year. The health care giant said Tuesday that it will roll out a new reimbursement model designed to make costs more predictable at the drugstore counter....
Can JetBlue buy Spirit? Trial on deal that could further consolidate industry comes to a head
BOSTON — Lawyers for the Justice Department and JetBlue Airways are scheduled to make closing arguments Tuesday in a trial determining whether JetBlue can buy Spirit Airlines, the nation’s biggest low-fare carrier. The Justice Department argues that the proposed $3.8 billion merger would hurt consumers by eliminating Spirit and its...
Alaska Air to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal that may attract regulator scrutiny
SEATTLE — Alaska Airlines said Sunday it agreed to buy Hawaiian Airlines in a $1.9 billion deal, including debt, putting it on track for a potential clash with a Biden administration that has shown wariness about higher fares in the industry. The combined company would keep both airlines’ brands, rooted...
Coal-producing West Virginia is converting an entire school system to solar power
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An entire county school system in coal-producing West Virginia is going solar, representing what a developer and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin’s office touted on Wednesday as the biggest-ever single demonstration of sun-powered renewable electricity in Appalachian public schools. The agreement between Wayne County Schools and West Virginian...
U.S. sanctions financial network tied to Iranian oil sales
WASHINGTON — The U.S. on Wednesday said it imposed a new round of sanctions on a group of 20 people and firms allegedly involved in a financial facilitation network for the benefit of the Iranian military. The Treasury Department sanctions impact firms and people spanning Hong Kong to the United...
Tensions simmer as newcomers and immigrants with deeper U.S. roots strive for work permits
HOMESTEAD, Fla. — In New York, migrants at a city-run shelter grumble that relatives who settled before them refuse to offer a bed. In Chicago, a provider of mental health services to people in the country illegally pivoted to new arrivals sleeping at a police station across the street. In...
Cyber Monday marks the year’s biggest online shopping day, and 1 more chance to save on gifts
Consumers are scouring the internet for online deals as they begin to cap off the five-day post-Thanksgiving shopping bonanza with Cyber Monday. Even though e-commerce is now part and parcel of our everyday lives and much of the holiday shopping season, Cyber Monday — a term coined back in 2005...
Honda recalls select Accords and HR-Vs over missing piece in seat belt pretensioners
NEW YORK — Honda is recalling select 2023-2024 Accord and HR-V vehicles due to a missing piece in the front seat belt pretensioners, which could increase injury risks during a crash. According to notices published by Honda and the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration earlier this week, the pretensioners —...
Retailers offer big deals for Black Friday, but will shoppers spend?
NEW YORK — Expect big discounts and other enticements to lure shoppers to stores for Black Friday. But retailers worry those may not be enough. Consumers are coming under pressure as their savings dwindle and their credit card debt grows. And although they have gotten some relief from easing inflation,...
More Americans are expected to ‘buy now, pay later’ for the holidays. Analysts see a growing risk
NEW YORK — Consumers are expected to use “buy now, pay later” payment plans heavily this holiday season, a forecast that bodes well for retailers but that has credit experts again sounding alarm bells. The short-term loans often come with consumer-friendly interest rates and allow shoppers to make an initial...
U.S. unemployment claims drop by 24,000 to 209,000, another sign of labor market resiliency
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week, a sign that U.S. job market remains resilient despite higher interest rates. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that jobless claims dropped by 24,000 to 209,000. The previous week’s total — 233,000 — had been the highest...
U.S. egg producers conspired to fix prices from 2004 to 2008, a federal jury ruled
INDIANAPOLIS — An Illinois jury ruled this week that several major egg producers conspired to limit the U.S.’s supply of eggs in order to raise prices in a case stemming from a federal lawsuit originally filed 12 years ago. Several large food manufacturing companies including Kraft Foods Global, Inc. and...


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