Business

Axios reports: Amid growing health concerns over e-cigarettes, Apple will remove all 181 vaping-related apps from its mobile App Store this morning, Axios has learned. Why it matters: The move comes after at least 42 people have died from vaping-related lung illness, per the CDC. Most of those people had been using cartridges containing THC, though some exclusively used nicotine …

The Montgomery News reports: A Mobile printing company has refused to print an University of South Alabama magazine on religious grounds. Interstate Printing told the Editor-in-Chief of Due South Magazine Wednesday that the content of the magazine, which is about diversity and inclusion, did not align with the company’s religious values. “They emailed me back and said they would be …

Politico reports: Amazon is going to court to overturn the Pentagon’s decision to award Microsoft a cloud computing contract worth up to $10 billion, claiming the selection process for the so-called JEDI program was injected with “unmistakable bias” and “political influence.” The Pentagon last month named Microsoft the winner in the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program after President Donald Trump …

Reuters reports: Alphabet Inc’s Google said on Wednesday it will offer personal checking accounts next year through its Google Pay app in partnership with Citigroup Inc and a small credit union at Stanford University. The project, named Cache, comes as rivals Facebook and Apple are expanding their own efforts in consumer finance, a broad area that ranges from digital payment …

The Associated Press reports: Federal regulators have threatened to ground dozens of Southwest Airlines jets if the airline can’t confirm that the planes, which it bought used from foreign operators, meet all safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has validated some major repairs to the planes, and it is asking Southwest for more frequent updates until the …

The Hill reports: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Monday accused Apple of “throwing pennies at a housing crisis” that it “helped create” after the tech giant announced it will spend $2.5 billion on affordable housing in California. The presidential candidate released a statement ripping Apple’s “hypocrisy” and saying he would require large companies to pay “their fair share” in order …

Axios reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook, unveiling a $2.5 billion plan to help alleviate California’s housing availability and affordability crisis, told Axios in an interview that Apple feels “a profound responsibility” to the region where it was born and thrived.  “It’s just unsustainable,” Cook said. “This problem is so big that the public sector cannot do it alone.” Many teachers …

The Associated Press reports: McDonald’s chief executive officer has been pushed out of the company after violating company policy by engaging in a consensual relationship with an employee, the corporation said Sunday. The fast food giant said former president and CEO Steve Easterbrook demonstrated poor judgment, and that McDonald’s forbids managers from having romantic relationships with direct or indirect subordinates. …

The Columbus Dispatch reports: Murray Energy Corp., the U.S. coal giant that had pressed the Trump administration for help, has filed for bankruptcy. The largest closely held coal miner in America failed to make multiple payments to lenders this month, prompting a deal with creditors that will see them make a “stalking horse” bid under Chapter 11 bankruptcy to exchange …

Arizona Central reports: A Phoenix-based Southwest Airlines flight attendant has sued the airline, accusing the Dallas-based carrier of retaliation after she reported spotting two pilots livestreaming video from the lavatory to an iPad in the cockpit on one of her flights. Renee Steinaker was working as a flight attendant on Flight 1088 between Pittsburgh and Phoenix. The suit alleges that …

Fox News reports: New Jersey’s attorney general is seeking to revoke the liquor license for one of President Trump’s three golf courses in the state in response to a 2015 fatal crash involving an intoxicated driver who flipped his car after he’d just played a round of golf at the club, according to reports. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal …

Politico reports: Ed Stack, the CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods and a longtime Republican donor, is testing the waters for a possible third-party presidential bid that could scramble the dynamics of the 2020 general election. Various messages were presented to a focus group in southern Wisconsin this week centering on the billionaire businessman, along with possible three-way match-ups against Donald …

ABC New York reports: At two of President Trump’s oldest businesses — a pair of ice rinks in Central Park, which Trump has run since the 1980s — Trump Organization employees did something unusual in the past few weeks. They started removing the Trump name. Now, as skating season begins, the president’s name is gone from the boards around each …

Axios reports: The multi-state antitrust investigation into Facebook, which moved forward Monday as state officials met with experts, now counts 47 attorneys general among its membership. Facebook is facing attacks on all fronts, with antitrust scrutiny of the company’s size and power also taking shape at the Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and Congress. New York Attorney General Letitia …

The New York Times reports: Nearly three years into President Trump’s aggressive efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, prices for the most popular type of health insurance plan offered through the health law’s federal marketplace will actually drop next year, and the number of insurers offering plans will go up. Administration officials credited Mr. Trump with the resiliency of …

CNN reports: Australian airline Qantas has completed the longest non-stop commercial passenger flight, researching the potential impacts of ultra-long haul flights on pilots, crew and passengers. With 49 people on board, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight completed the 10,066-mile journey from New York to Sydney in 19 hours and 16 minutes. Cameras were mounted in the cockpit to record pilot …

Agence France-Presse reports: The United States imposed tariffs on a record $7.5-billion worth of European Union goods on Friday, despite threats of retaliation, with Airbus, French wine and Scottish whiskies among the high-profile targets. The tariffs, which took effect just after midnight in Washington (0401 GMT), came after talks between European officials and US trade representatives failed to win a …

CNBC reports: General Motors and union leaders have reached a tentative deal on a new labor contract that could end the United Auto Workers’ month-long strike against the automaker, the UAW said Wednesday. Details of the proposed deal were not immediately available. However, the union’s roughly 48,000 members with GM are expected to receive raises and bonuses as part of …

The Associated Press reports: On Friday, Visa and MasterCard announced their departures from the Libra project, as did e-commerce giant eBay and payments startup Stripe. Last week, PayPal became the first major company to drop out of Libra. The exodus comes amid growing — not to mention stronger-than-anticipated — regulatory pushback against Libra in the U.S. and elsewhere. “It’s a …

The Associated Press reports: Millions of people in California woke up in the dark Wednesday after Pacific Gas & Electric started shutting off power to prevent what the utility called an unprecedented wildfire danger. PG&E said it cut power to more than 500,000 customers in Northern California and that it plans to gradually turn off electricity to nearly 800,000 customers …