Business

Avengers Flick Breaks Global Box Office Record

CNN Money reports: Marvel Studios’ “Avengers: Infinity War” made an estimated $630 million at the worldwide box office for its opening weekend, according to Disney. That shatters the record for biggest worldwide opening held by Universal’s “The Fate of the Furious,” which made $541 million for its global opening last year. “Infinity War” also brought in an estimated $250 million …

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Disney Launches Mickey Mouse Pride Ears

Gay Times Magazine reports: Part of the experience of visiting any Disney theme park is wearing your favourite pair of Disney ears, whether that’s a classic Mickey Mouse, a cute Minnie Mouse with a bow, or one of the many limited edition variations that pop up through the year. But we think the latest Mickey ear release might be our …

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Search For New Amazon HQ Hinges On LGBT Rights

The Washington Post reports: When Amazon executives recently toured the Dallas-Fort Worth area, one of 20 finalists for a second company headquarters, local officials touted its growing workforce and low taxes as perfectly suited to accommodate 50,000 planned Amazon jobs. But the local team also brought an unexpected guest: the Rev. Neil G. Cazares-Thomas, pastor of a predominantly gay megachurch …

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Southwest Passengers Get $5K Checks After Incident

CNN reports: Passengers aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 1380 received a $5,000 check after a deadly engine failure that led to an emergency landing in Philadelphia. In a letter to passengers, the airline expressed “sincere apologies” for the fatal incident and included the check, said Kamau Siwatu, who was aboard the flight. He was one of at least three passengers who …

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NRA Rages After Dick’s Reveals Plan To Destroy Guns It No Longer Sells: You’re Punishing Law-Abiding Citizens

The Pittsburgh Gazette reports: When Dick’s Sporting Goods said it would no longer sell modern sporting rifles at its Field & Stream stores following the Valentine’s Day shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school, one question was what would happen to the unsold firearms in its inventory. Typically a retailer may return unsold merchandise to the manufacturer. But in this …

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Starbucks To Close All Stores For Racial-Bias Training

NBC News reports: Starbucks announced Tuesday that it will close all of its more than 8,000 stores nationwide to conduct “racial-bias” training amid a racially charged uproar over the arrest of two black men at one of its stores in Philadelphia. Three years ago, Starbucks was widely ridiculed for trying to start a national conversation on race relations by asking …

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Federal Court: It’s Not McDonald’s Fault If Customers Don’t Do The Math On Their Extra Value Meal Prices

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Chicago has tossed a class-action lawsuit that argued McDonald’s was duping consumers because a single “Extra Value Meal” costs more than the sum total of the individual components of the meal bought separately. The Chicago Daily Law Bulletin reported Monday that Kelly Killeen said she bought a sausage burrito breakfast Extra Value …

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Stocks Tank Once Again Over Trade War Tensions

ABC News reports: Stocks fell sharply Friday as trade tensions between the United States and China heated up. The Dow lost nearly 700 points at one point, a drop of more than 2%, after President Donald Trump threatened to escalate a confrontation with China over trade. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq each declined more than 2%. The Dow Jones …

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China Hits Back With New Tariffs On 100+ US Products

CNBC reports: China announced additional tariffs on 106 U.S. products on Wednesday, in a move likely to heighten global concerns of a tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s biggest economies. The effective start date for the new charges was not announced, though China’s Ministry of Commerce said the tariffs are designed to target up to $50 billion of U.S. products …

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BRITAIN: Fox Offers To Sell Sky News To Disney

CBS News reports: Sky News could be sold to Walt Disney or completely ring-fenced in concessions put forward Tuesday by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox as it seeks to bolster its chances of taking full control of the U.K. satellite broadcaster Sky. The proposals are aimed at easing some of the regulatory concerns over the extent of Murdoch’s influence on …

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REPORT: Trump Obsessed With “Fucking With” Bezos

Vanity Fair reports: For the first time in Donald Trump’s presidency, the West Wing soap opera appears to be in hiatus, with many of its starring characters (Gary Cohn, Hope Hicks) either permanently offstage or with much reduced roles (John Kelly, Jared Kushner). Currently, there’s one star—a situation Trump is obviously enjoying—and his new freedom is used to focus ever …

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Saks, Lord & Taylor Hit With Massive Data Breach

Reuters reports: Retailer Hudson’s Bay Co on Sunday disclosed that it was the victim of a security breach that compromised data on payment cards used at Saks and Lord & Taylor stores in North America. One cyber security firm said that it has evidence that millions of cards may have been compromised, which would make the breach one of the …

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China Retaliates With Tariffs On US Food Imports

The Guardian reports: China has implemented retaliatory tariffs of up to 25% on $3bn in food imports from the US, raising uncertainty over the possibility of a trade war between the two countries. China’s ministry of commerce said it would be “suspending tariff concessions” on 120 US food products. Fresh and dried fruits, almonds, pistachios and wine would be subject …

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Bernie Sanders: Amazon Has Gotten Too Big [VIDEO]

Via Mediaite: Appearing on CNN’s State of the Union today, Sen. Bernie Sanders seemed to endorse some of what the president has said of the massive company. Asked by anchor Jake Tapper if he believed Amazon had gotten too big, the independent senator answered in the affirmative. “Yeah, I do. I do,” Sanders declared. “I think this is — look, …

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Walmart In Talks To Acquire Health Insurer Humana

Barron’s reports: News broke late Thursday that Walmart is in preliminary talks to buy the insurer Humana: Sources told The Wall Street Journal that the two companies are discussing a “range of options” that includes an acquisition. Although no details of the deal are known at the moment, it would be Walmart’s biggest acquisition on record. Humana’s market value is …

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Trump Falsely Claims Amazon Pays “Little Or No” Sales Tax (Amazon Now Pays In All States With Sales Tax)

The Wall Street Journal reports: President Donald Trump criticized Amazon.com Inc. on Thursday, saying the e-commerce giant was “putting many thousands of retailers out of business.” Shares of Amazon.com slid on Wednesday amid speculation that the White House wanted to curb the company’s growing dominance. In a briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr. …

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REPORT: Trump “Obsessed” With Punishing Amazon

Axios reports: Capitol Hill wants Facebook’s blood, but President Trump isn’t interested. Instead, the tech behemoth Trump wants to go after is Amazon, according to five sources who’ve discussed it with him. “He’s obsessed with Amazon,” a source said. “Obsessed.” What we’re hearing: Trump has talked about changing Amazon’s tax treatment because he’s worried about mom-and-pop retailers being put out …

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FTC Launches Probe Into Facebook Data Scandal

USA Today reports: The Federal Federal Trade Commission says it’s officially investigating the potential misuse of the personal information of as many as 50 million Facebook users by Trump-connected data analysis firm Cambridge Analytica. The agency’s action comes after it began a probe last week into the social network’s admission that it had suspended Cambridge Analytica, which had worked for …

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Oldest US Gun Maker Remington Declares Bankruptcy

The Associated Press reports: Remington Outdoor Company, the country’s oldest gun maker, filed for bankruptcy protection late Sunday. The company has faced lawsuits after the Bushmaster, an AR-15 style rifle, was used in the shooting that killed 26 people, including 20 first-graders, in the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, Connecticut in 2012. The company has seen falling sales for …

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Qantas Debuts First Nonstops From Australia To UK

The Guardian reports: The first non-stop scheduled flight from Australia to the UK has landed in London – early – after a 17 hour, six minute journey across 9,240 miles (14,875km) from Perth. Qantas flight QF9, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner with more than 230 passengers and crew on board, touched down at 5.03am at Heathrow on a chilly Sunday morning …

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