Wire stories category, Page 11
‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate
WYOMING, Iowa — Taking a late-summer country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone, snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls that seem to block out nearly everything other than the sun and an occasional water tower. The skyscraper-like corn is a part of rural America as much...
Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil — Silvio Almeida’s coffee plantation sits at an ideal altitude on a Brazilian hillside, whose clay-rich soil does well at retaining moisture from rainfall and a nearby reservoir. Lately, though, water is scarce on Almeida’s modest farm in Caconde, a town in one of Sao Paulo state’s key...
Most of Wall Street edges lower after Fed delivers a big cut to rates
NEW YORK — Stock indexes edged lower Wednesday after the Federal Reserve kicked off its efforts to prevent a recession with a bigger-than-usual cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 slipped 0.3% to pull 0.9% below its all-time high set in July. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 103 points,...
Iconic Tupperware Brands seeks Chapter 11 bankruptcy
NEW YORK — Tupperware Brands, the company that revolutionized food storage decades ago, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Orlando, Florida-based Tupperware plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and will seek court approval for a sale, “in order to protect its iconic brand,” the company said just...
Kroger, Albertsons prepare to make a final federal court argument for their merger
PORTLAND, Ore. — The federal government urged a U.S. District Court judge on Tuesday to temporarily prevent a proposed merger between Kroger and Albertsons, saying in closing arguments the combination would “almost certainly” benefit shareholders and not everyday shoppers. Lawyers for the Federal Trade Commission and for the supermarket chains...
Here’s why the auto industry supports a US Steel sale to Japan’s Nippon Steel
WASHINGTON — With a deal still in flux, the U.S. auto industry keeps pushing top government officials to allow the proposed acquisition of United States Steel Corp. by Japanese rival Nippon Steel Corp. That push, analysts told The Detroit News, signals how much the global auto industry operating in the...
Boeing says it’s considering temporary layoffs to save cash during the strike by machinists
SEATTLE — Boeing plans to freeze hiring and reduce travel and is considering temporary layoffs to save cash during a factory workers’ strike that began last week, the company told employees Monday. The company said the moves, which include reduced spending on suppliers, were necessary because “our business is in...
Norfolk Southern fires CEO Alan Shaw for an inappropriate relationship with an employee
Norfolk Southern said Wednesday it has fired CEO Alan Shaw for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. His ouster comes after two difficult years in the top job and just days after the company’s board announced it was investigating him for alleged ethical lapses. The Atlanta-based railroad said Shaw...
Campbell wants to say goodbye to the ‘soup’ in its name. It isn’t the first to make such a change
NEW YORK — Campbell is ready to drop the soup — at least from its official name. Campbell Soup Co. announced its intention to change its name at an annual meeting of investors on Tuesday. The 155-year-old food seller, which is most famous for its namesake canned soups, says it...
Wall Street tumbles on worries about economy, Dow drops more than 600
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks tumbled Tuesday to their worst day since an early August sell-off, as a week full of updates on the economy got off to a discouragingly weak start. The S&P 500 sank 2.1% to give back a chunk of the gains from a three-week winning streak...
Volkswagen aims to cancel a no-layoffs pledge and won’t rule out closing plants in Germany
FRANKFURT, Germany — Germany’s Volkswagen says auto industry headwinds mean it can’t rule out plant closings in its home country - and must drop a longstanding job protection pledge in force since 1994 that would have barred layoffs through 2029. “The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and...
Labor Day hotel strikes reflect the frustrations of a workforce largely made up of women of color
More than 10,000 workers at 25 U.S. hotels were on strike Monday after choosing Labor Day weekend to amplify their demands for higher pay, fairer workloads and the reversal of covid-era cuts. The UNITE HERE union, which represents the striking housekeepers and other hospitality workers, said 200 workers at the...
How proposed rules could protect U.S. workers from heat
The first federal legal protections for indoor and outdoor workers exposed to heat could go into effect next year following decades of activism by medical experts, unions and labor advocates. The rule would, among other things, require employers across the U.S. to create heat safety plans and provide water and...
Brazil blocks Musk’s X amid feud with judge
SAO PAULO — Brazil started blocking Elon Musk’s social media platform X early Saturday, making it largely inaccessible on the web and through mobile apps after the billionaire refused to name a legal representative to the country. The move escalates a monthslong feud between Musk and a Brazilian Supreme Court...
Kroger hiked milk, egg prices above inflation, merger judge told
Kroger Co. hiked prices on milk and eggs more than needed to account for inflation, the company’s top pricing executive testified during a court hearing on the U.S. government’s bid to block the grocery chain’s purchase of rival Albertsons Cos. In a March 2024 email to his bosses, Andy Groff,...
French authorities issue preliminary charges against Telegram messaging app CEO
PARIS — French authorities handed preliminary charges to Telegram CEO Pavel Durov on Wednesday for allowing alleged criminal activity on his messaging app, and barred him from leaving France pending further investigation. Both free-speech advocates and authoritarian governments have spoken out in Durov’s defense since his weekend arrest. The case...
Lowe’s changes some DEI policies amid legal attacks on diversity programs and activist pressure
NEW YORK— Home improvement chain Lowe’s is scaling back its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, joining the ranks of several other companies that altered their programs since the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed affirmative action in college admissions or after facing a conservative backlash online. In an internal memo shared by...
Stock market today: Dow closes at a record even as losses for Big Tech pull S&P 500 and Nasdaq lower
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high Monday on Wall Street, even as losses for Big Tech companies pulled the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite lower. The Dow edged up 0.2% Monday, enough to beat the all-time high it set last month. The S&P 500 lost...
U.S. home sales ended a 4-month slide in July amid easing mortgage rates, more homes on the market
LOS ANGELES — Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes ended a four-month slide in July as easing mortgage rates and a pickup in properties on the market encouraged home shoppers. Existing home sales rose 1.3% last month from June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 3.95 million, the National...
Government: U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs than first reported in year that ended in March
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs from April 2023 through March this year than were originally reported, the government said Wednesday. The revised total adds to evidence that the job market has been steadily slowing and likely reinforces the Federal Reserve’s plan to start cutting interest rates...
Target’s focus on lower prices in grocery aisle start to pay off as comparable store sales rise
NEW YORK — Target’s comparable sales rose for the first time in a year as grocery aisle deals for cash-strapped customers began to pay off. Sales at stores and digital channels operating over at least the past 12 months rose 2% in the second quarter reversing months of declines, including...
Perdue recalls 167,000 pounds of chicken nuggets after consumers find metal wire in some packages
NEW YORK — Check your freezer. Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders after some customers reported finding metal wire embedded in the products. According to Perdue and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the recall covers select lots of...
Wall Street leaps, and S&P 500 rallies 1.6% as shoppers drive the economy
NEW YORK — Wall Street rallied to one of its best days of the year Thursday after data showed the U.S. economy is holding up better than expected, with particular credit going to the country’s shoppers. The S&P 500 jumped 1.6% for its fourth-best day of the year and its...
FTC ban on noncompete agreements comes under legal attack
NEW YORK — The federal government wants to make it easier for employees to quit a job and work for a competitor. But some companies say a new rule created by the Federal Trade Commission will make it hard to protect trade secrets and investments they make in their employees....
Wall Street rallies to one of its best days of the year as a result of inflation report
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied to one of their best days of the year Tuesday after the first of several highly anticipated reports on the economy this week came in better than expected. The S&P 500 jumped 1.7% for its third-best day of 2024 after the U.S. government reported inflation...
