Business

The BBC reports: Adidas has warned of a potential major impact on its profits after ending its partnership with rapper and fashion designer Kanye West last November. The firm’s new boss said it could lose hundreds of millions of dollars this year if it decides not to sell its stock of Yeezy sneakers. The sportswear giant cut ties with West, …

Lever News reports: Before this weekend’s fiery Norfolk Southern train derailment prompted emergency evacuations in Ohio, the company helped kill a federal safety rule aimed at upgrading the rail industry’s Civil War-era braking systems, according to documents reviewed by The Lever. Though the company’s 150-car train in Ohio reportedly burst into 100-foot flames upon derailing — and was transporting materials …

Platformer reports: On Tuesday, Musk gathered a group of engineers and advisors into a room at Twitter’s headquarters looking for answers. Why are his engagement numbers tanking? “This is ridiculous,” he said, according to multiple sources. “I have more than 100 million followers, and I’m only getting tens of thousands of impressions.” One of the company’s two remaining principal engineers …

Reuters reports: A federal judge in Chicago has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Walmart of deceiving shoppers by selling Fudge Mint cookies that lacked fudge and mint. In a decision on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland said no cases showed that consumers expect “fudge” to contain milkfat. The judge likened the case to lawsuits where courts found …

The New York Daily News reports: Mayor Adams and Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg put illegal cannabis shops on notice Tuesday that they will face eviction if they continue to break the law. Adams, Bragg and several other top elected officials announced that prosecutors will now rely on a decades-old public nuisance law to evict businesses selling marijuana without a license. …

The New York Times reports: Over 120,000 views of a video showing a boy being sexually assaulted. A recommendation engine suggesting that a user follow content related to exploited children. Users continually posting abusive material, delays in taking it down when it is detected and friction with organizations that police it. All since Elon Musk declared that “removing child exploitation …

Variety reports: Elon Musk’s Twitter needs cash — and now the mega-billionaire wants companies and brands to fork over $1,000 monthly to get verified check-marks on his social network. Twitter is asking organizations to pay $1,000 per month, plus an additional $50 monthly for each affiliated sub-account, to maintain the gold check-mark verification badges the company introduced in December, replacing …

Bloomberg News reports: A jury cleared Elon Musk of claims by Tesla Inc. investors that he defrauded them when he tweeted 4 1/2 years ago that he was considering taking the company private and had “funding secured” to make the deal happen. The verdict in San Francisco federal court rejects allegations that the electric-car maker’s CEO violated securities laws and …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Federal Trade Commission is preparing a potential antitrust lawsuit against Amazon that in the coming months could challenge an array of the tech giant’s business practices as anticompetitive, according to people familiar with the matter. The commission in recent years has been examining Amazon practices including whether it favors its own products over competitors’ …

CNBC reports: Netflix’s plan to stop users from sharing their passwords with each other is starting to take shape. The streaming giant, which last month announced that it will soon begin the preliminary rollout of its strategy, has updated its FAQs page with some details about what users can expect. The main hurdle that Netflix will place in front of …

Axios reports: Florida orange growers are facing what’s forecast to be their smallest crop in nearly 90 years. Florida is expected to produce 18 million 90-pound boxes of juicing oranges this year, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast last month. That’s less than half of last year’s crop and a 93% decline from the 1998 peak, the Wall …

From the Reserve Bank of Australia: The Reserve Bank has decided to update the $5 banknote to feature a new design that honours the culture and history of the First Australians. This new design will replace the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian Parliament. This decision …

Reuters reports: The White House on Tuesday expressed outrage on Tuesday at Exxon Mobil Corp’s record net profit in 2022 of $56 billion, a historical high not just for the company but for the entire Western oil industry. Oil majors are expected to break their own annual records due to high prices and soaring demand, pushing their combined take to …

ABC News reports: Bed Bath & Beyond told Nexstar Monday that it will be closing 87 additional stores, an announcement that comes days after the beleaguered home goods chain said it had defaulted on its loans. Bed Bath & Beyond said the closures are being done to increase efficiency as the company works with advisors to “consider multiple paths” as …

ABC News reports: Struggling U.K. regional airline Flybe collapsed for the second time in three years Saturday, putting jobs on the line and leaving passengers stranded. The airline initially slumped into bankruptcy in March 2020, shedding 2,400 jobs, as coronavirus restrictions decimated the travel industry. It relaunched in April last year, flying many of the same routes out of Belfast, …

Florida Politics reports: This week, Panama City Republican Sen. Jay Trumbull refiled SB 170, a controversial measure that would hand businesses new tools to fight what they deem to be harmful overreach by local governments. The bill would enable businesses to sue county and city governments that pass “arbitrary or unreasonable” ordinances for up to $50,000. While a court decides …

Bloomberg News reports: US regulators are investigating Elon Musk’s role in shaping Tesla Inc.’s self-driving car claims, the latest effort by watchdogs to scrutinize the actions of the world’s second-richest person. The review is part of an ongoing Securities and Exchange Commission probe of the company’s statements about its Autopilot driver-assistance system. He personally directed the creation of a 2016 …

Axios reports: Southwest Airlines has been in damage-control mode since its December holiday meltdown, working to defend its reputation. Now, that episode has an actual price tag. The airline said today the snafu cost it $800 million in the fourth quarter, driving it to a net Q4 loss. And it expects to take another $300 million to $350 million hit …

The Christian Post reports: A three-judge panel of the Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against Christian baker Jack Phillips, having concluded that he was wrong to refuse, on religious grounds, to bake a cake celebrating transgenderism. In a decision released Thursday, Judge Timothy Schutz authored the panel’s opinion affirming an earlier trial court decision against Phillips, concluding that the …

The Escanaba Daily Press reports: The Escanaba City Council met with the Escanaba Planning Commission earlier this week to hash out the future of commercial marijuana, but it is still unclear what changes, if any, will be made to the city’s marijuana rules. The majority of the push back came after a letter to the editor from county commissioner and …