Business

Three CNN Workers Fired For Coming In Unvaccinated

The New York Times reports: CNN said on Thursday that it had fired three employees who violated its coronavirus safety protocols by going to the office unvaccinated, one of the first known examples of a major American corporation’s terminating workers for ignoring a workplace vaccination mandate. CNN had said this year that employees would need to be vaccinated against the …

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Spirit Airlines Bedlam Stretches Into Fifth Day [VIDEO]

USA Today reports: Spirit Airlines apologized to passengers Wednesday after days of staggering flight cancellations and said cancellations should ease in the days to come as it reboots its operation. Help didn’t arrive on Thursday. The Florida-based carrier, which has blamed its operational meltdown on a series of issues, including weather, technology outages and staffing shortages, has already canceled 402 …

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Elaine Chao Named To Kroger’s Board Of Directors

Cincinnati Public Radio reports: Cincinnati-based Kroger is naming former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to its board of directors. Chao was elected to serve until the board’s annual meeting next June, when she’ll stand for election by shareholders. Chao also served as the U.S. labor secretary under President George W. Bush, becoming the first woman of Asian descent to serve …

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NYC To Require Proof Of Vaccination For Indoor Dining

The New York Times reports: Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to announce Tuesday morning that New York City will require proof of vaccination for people participating in indoor activities, including at restaurants, gyms and performances, his latest attempt to spur more vaccinations, according to a city official. The policy is similar to mandates issued in France and Italy last month …

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Chaos At Florida Airports After Spirit Cancellations

The South Florida Sun Sentinel reports: Hundreds of travelers in Broward County and beyond were stranded after Spirit Airlines cancelled over 250 flights nationwide. The Air Line Pilots Association said Monday morning, in an email to the South Florida Sun Sentinel, that reports of a strike are false. And Spirit spokesman Erik Hofmeyer echoed that, blaming cancellations on weather and …

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Target Reinstates Mask Rule For Staff At Some Stores

Just in via press release: The health and safety of our guests and team members have been Target’s top priority throughout the pandemic. Target will continue to recommend face coverings for unvaccinated team members and guests at all stores across the country. Effective Tuesday, based on the CDC’s updated guidance, we’ll require face coverings for our team members and strongly …

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Bezos Loses Battle Over NASA Contract, Musk Trolls

The Verge reports: The Government Accountability Office squashed Blue Origin’s protest over NASA’s decision to pick a single lunar lander contractor, the agency said Friday, also denying a similar protest from Dynetics. The GAO’s decision keeps Blue Origin’s rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, the sole winner of NASA’s lucrative Moon lander program and hands a loss to Jeff Bezos, whose space …

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Disney Orders All Employees To Get Vax Within 60 Days

The Hill reports: The Walt Disney Company is requiring its employees to get the coronavirus vaccine within 60 days. “We are requiring that all salaried and non-union hourly employees in the U.S. working at any of our sites be fully vaccinated,” the company said in a statement Friday. “Employees who aren’t already vaccinated and are working on-site will have 60 …

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NYC’s Vessel May Close For Good After Latest Suicide

The Daily Beast reports: A popular tourist attraction in New York City may shut down for good after a 14-year-old boy leapt to his death on Thursday—while his loved ones apparently looked on. Stephen Ross, the billionaire chairman of The Related Companies, the global real-estate firm that is behind Hudson Yards, says the development’s marquee art installation might close for …

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Masks Again Required Indoors At Disney Theme Parks

Orlando’s ABC News affiliate reports: Face coverings will once again be required indoors and aboard all Resort transportation, regardless of vaccination status, at the Walt Disney World Resort beginning on Friday, July 30. Guests ages 2 and up will also be required to wear facial coverings in the queues for attractions at the four theme parks. Masks will continue to …

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US Economy Grew Robustly In Second Quarter

The New York Times reports: Vaccinations and federal aid helped lift the U.S. economy out of its pandemic-induced hole this spring. The next test will be whether that momentum can continue as coronavirus cases rise, masks return and government help wanes. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter of the year, …

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Apple Reinstates Mask Requirement At Most US Stores

The Verge reports: Apple will be requiring customers and staff at most of its more than 270 US retail stores to wear masks even if they are vaccinated, according to a new Bloomberg report, bringing back a requirement that had been removed starting in June. The change goes into effect Thursday. “After carefully reviewing the latest CDC recommendations, and analyzing …

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Israel Forms Task Force Over Ben & Jerry’s Boycott

Axios reports: The Israeli government has formed a special task force to pressure Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and its parent company Unilever to reverse their decision to boycott Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Israeli officials tell me. The Israeli government is concerned the move by Ben & Jerry’s will encourage other international companies to take similar steps to …

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Bezos Makes Last-Minute $2B Discount Offer To NASA

The Verge reports: Jeff Bezos is offering NASA a discount of at least $2 billion for the agency to give his space company a lucrative human lunar landing system contract that his rival, Elon Musk’s SpaceX, won earlier this year. Bezos’ new offer is the latest in an escalating string of efforts to win the contract for Blue Origin. In …

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SpaceX Lands Contract For NASA Mission To Europa

Reuters reports: Elon Musk’s private rocket company SpaceX was awarded a $178 million launch services contract for NASA’s first mission focusing on Jupiter’s icy moon Europa and whether it may host conditions suitable for life, the space agency said on Friday. The Europa Clipper mission is due for blastoff in October 2024 on a Falcon Heavy rocket owned by Musk’s …

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Facebook Moderators Demand End To Their NDAs

The Verge reports: Facebook content moderators in Europe and the US are calling on the company to put an end to overly restrictive nondisclosure agreements that discourage people from speaking out about working conditions. In a letter addressed to Mark Zuckerberg, Sheryl Sandberg, and the CEOs of Covalen and Accenture, moderators say these NDAs aren’t limited to user data and …

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Uber Expands Grocery Deliveries To Major Markets

The Verge reports: Uber has more than doubled the number of cities where it delivers groceries, marking the first major expansion of the new service since its launch last year. The company’s on-demand and scheduled grocery delivery is now available in 400 cities, including key markets like New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. Uber’s grocery delivery service got …

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J&J Mulls Bankruptcy Ploy In Baby Powder Lawsuits

Reuters reports: Johnson & Johnson is exploring a plan to offload liabilities from widespread Baby Powder litigation into a newly created business that would then seek bankruptcy protection, according to seven people familiar with the matter. J&J is now considering using Texas’s “divisive merger” law, which allows a company to split into at least two entities. For J&J, that could …

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US Warns Companies Of New Risks In Hong Kong

Via press release from the State Department: On July 16, the U.S. Department of State, along with the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, issued a business advisory to caution U.S. businesses about emerging risks to their operations and activities in Hong Kong. Many of these risks stem from …

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Pfizer To Pay $345 Million In EpiPen Anti-Trust Lawsuit

Reuters reports: Pfizer Inc has agreed to pay $345 million to resolve claims by consumers who claim they overpaid for EpiPens due to anti-competitive and unfair practices by the drugmaker and the company that markets the emergency allergy treatment, Mylan. The proposed class action settlement was disclosed in a filing in federal court in Kansas City, Kansas. The deal, which …

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