Business

The BBC reports: Uber will not be issued a new private hire licence, Transport for London (TfL) has said. TfL concluded the ride-hailing app firm was not fit and proper to hold a London private hire operator licence. It said it took the decision on the grounds of “public safety and security implications”. Confirming it would appeal against the decision, …

The New York Times reports: New figures released by the U.S. Department of Commerce show a drop in international visitors to the United States by close to 700,000 in the first quarter of 2017 compared to the previous year. European countries were down 10.1 percent, and Mexico was off 7.1 percent in the quarter. The largest drops were from the …

Many JMG readers have written me over the last week, hoping for some inside scoop on the status of Key West’s Island House and the other popular gay guesthouses that are their Old Town neighbors. Today, we actually have some positive hurricane-related news. Via press release: Feeling humbled by our good luck, we’re happy to announce that the Island House, …

The Washington Post reports: Toys “R” Us announced late Monday night that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, though the company’s leadership assured customers its 1,600 stores around the world would continue to operate normally. The company, once America’s powerhouse of toys, has been struggling for years even as the toy industry grew. Instead, it plans to restructure the $5 …

Bloomberg reports: Equifax Inc. learned about a major breach of its computer systems in March — almost five months before the date it has publicly disclosed, according to three people familiar with the situation. In a statement, the company said the March breach was not related to the hack that exposed the personal and financial data on 143 million U.S. …

TechCrunch reports: Top executives at Equifax are retiring effective immediately, according to the WSJ. Susan Mauldin was the company’s chief security officer and David Webb was the chief information officer. The report says the executives are retiring, though, in the wake of the company’s major security breach, “retire” feels like an euphemism for “fired.” The company says the personnel changes …

Reuters reports: U.S. senator on Tuesday called for a criminal investigation of executives from credit bureau Equifax  for stock sales after a massive data breach this summer, and said their actions were comparable to insider trading. Senator Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, said it was “disturbing” that it appeared executives sold nearly $2 million …

The Daily Beast reports: Victims of one of the most significant data breaches in U.S. history have filed a class-action lawsuit against the credit-monitoring firm Equifax. On Thursday, the company announced that hackers had stolen Social Security numbers and other personal information belonging to 143 million people, leaving them potentially vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. Victims of the breach …

CNBC reports: Equifax, which supplies credit information and other information services, said Thursday that a data breach could have potentially affected 143 million consumers in the United States. Equifax said it discovered the breach on July 29. “Criminals exploited a U.S. website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files,” the company said. Shares of Equifax fell more than 5 …

Business Insider reports: Chocolate giant Mars is promising to spend close to $1 billion over the next few years fighting climate change. The $35 billion food giant behind brands like M&Ms, Skittles, and Twix on Wednesday launched its “Sustainability in a Generation” plan, aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of its business and supply chain by more than 60% by …

The Associated Press reports: A former Roman Catholic monk has filed a federal lawsuit against cosmetics giant L’Oreal, accusing the company of stealing patented technology in an anti-aging wrinkle cream that his charity was selling to raise money for the poor. Dennis Wyrzykowski and his company, Carmel Laboratories LLC, have been joined in the lawsuit by the University of Massachusetts …

STAT News reports: Legal groups on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit against the health insurer Aetna, alleging the company violated the privacy of its customers by sending many of them letters through which the phrase “filling prescriptions for HIV” was visible through envelope windows. The federal suit alleges the breach affected as many as 12,000 Aetna customers living in 23 …

ABC News reports: A Bakersfield bakery is facing controversy after they reportedly refused to serve a gay couple. Posts on social media have criticized Tastries Bakery for refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. The owner of the bakery has said she chose not to create the cakes because of her beliefs. Owner Cathy Miller said, “Here …

STAT News reports: Thousands of people with HIV received mailed letters from Aetna last month that may have disclosed their HIV status on the envelope. The letters, which Aetna said were sent to approximately 12,000 people, were meant to relay a change in pharmacy benefits. Text visible through a small window on the envelopes listed the patients’ names and suggested …

Bloomberg reports: Starting on Thursday, Google will police YouTube like it never has before, adding warnings and disabling advertising on videos that the company determines crosses its new threshold for offensive content. YouTube isn’t removing the selected videos, but is instead setting new restrictions on viewing, sharing and making money on them. A note detailing the changes will go to …

CNBC reports: Whole Foods shareholders have at last voted to advance Amazon’s acquisition of the grocery chain, moving the proposal one step closer to reality. Gathered at Whole Food’s headquarters in Austin, Texas, the retailer’s shareholders approved a merger with the internet giant on Wednesday morning. Amazon shareholders don’t need to sign off on the deal. Now, completion of the …

Well, not quite unlimited. One per day. The New York Daily News reports: A six-year-old entertainment start-up is trying to revolutionize the movie industry: with a price of just $9.95 per month. The New York-based company MoviePass, in existence since 2011, has announced that it is changing its monthly subscription fee to $9.95. It is essentially striving to become the …

USA Today reports: Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company would donate $2 million to anti-hate groups, releasing a staff memo that rebuked President Trump and others who claim a “moral equivalence” between white supremacists and the protesters who countered them in last week’s deadly Virginia rally. Cook sent a memo to employees Wednesday pledging the donations to the Southern …

The New York Times reports: Walmart’s chief executive issued a strong rebuke of President Trump’s response to the protests that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va., saying the president “missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together.” The criticism came in a statement that the retailer’s chief executive, Doug McMillon, emailed to employees Monday evening, which was reviewed by …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed the three chief executives who recently left his manufacturing council as “grandstanders.” Since Monday, three CEO have stepped down from their advisory roles. Merck’s Ken Frazier did so on Monday morning, followed by Under Armour’s Kevin Plank and Intel’s Brian Krzanich. Shortly after Trump’s tweet Tuesday, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance …