Business

The Verge reports: Uber and Lyft announced a “first-of-its-kind” effort to share information about drivers who were deactivated for committing serious offenses, including physical and sexual assault and murder. Uber and Lyft will pool information under the banner of the Industry Safety Sharing Project, which will be administered by a third party. This new project is the first time the …

Bloomberg News reports: A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc. In addition, hackers were able to …

Yahoo News reports: American Airlines is “happily” canceling over 10,000 furloughs as Congress’ new COVID-19 relief bill heads to President Biden’s desk. American Airlines CEO Doug Parker and President Robert Isom told employees on Wednesday that after Congress passed the new $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill that includes more funding for the Payroll Support Program, it will be canceling 13,000 …

The New York Times reports: Restaurants in New York City and New Jersey will be able to increase indoor dining to 50 percent of capacity starting March 19, the governors of New York and New Jersey said on Wednesday.  The change brings both places into line with current dining limits in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The new half-capacity limit in New …

USA Today reports: U.S. health officials are exploring a partnership with Dollar General, one of the nation’s largest retailers, to accelerate the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in the nation’s rural areas. Dollar General does not have pharmacies, but it has more than 16,000 locations. That’s about three times the number of locations as Walmart and more than half as many as …

The New York Post reports: Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli was slapped with a class action lawsuit Thursday from health insurers who claim he engaged in a scheme to create a pharmaceutical monopoly that allowed him to raise the price of an HIV drug by more than 4,000 percent. In the Manhattan federal court suit, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of …

Click2Houston reports: Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo released a sturdy message for those who do not comply with private businesses’ policies on wearing masks after Gov. Greg Abbott rescinded the statewide mask order. In the video, Acevedo wanted to remind residents that private entities and private businesses have a legal right to require customers to wear a mask. He said …

The Washington Post reports: Walmart plans to invest $350 billion in products made, grown or assembled in the United States over the next 10 years, a move it says will help create 750,000 jobs. The world’s largest retailer said Wednesday that it is committing to source a wide range of American-made products, including textiles, plastics, small electrical appliances, food processing, …

The BBC reports: Amazon has quickly changed its main shopping-app logo, after commentators said the recent redesign made it look like Adolf Hitler. Launched in January, the icon depicts a strip of blue tape over an Amazon “smile” logo. But some observers said it resembled a toothbrush mustache, associated with the Nazi dictator. The technology giant has now changed the …

Via press release from the Justice Department: United Airlines Inc. (United), the world’s third largest airline, has agreed to pay over $49 million to resolve criminal charges and civil claims relating to fraud on postal service contracts for transportation of international mail. United entered into a non-prosecution agreement (NPA) with the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and agreed to pay $17,271,415 …

The Associated Press reports: Fry’s Electronics, the go-to chain for tech tinkerers looking for an obscure part, is closing for good. The company, perhaps even more well known for outlandish themes at some of its stores, from Aztec to “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” said Wednesday in an online posting that the COVID-19 pandemic had made it impossible to continue. The …

Reuters reports: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Tuesday it was ordering immediate inspections of Boeing 777 planes with Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engines before further flights after an engine failed on a United flight on Saturday. The engines are used on 128 older versions of the plane accounting for less than 10% of the more than 1,600 777s …

CBS News reports: Federal aviation regulators are ordering United Airlines to step up inspections of all Boeing 777s equipped with the type of engine that suffered a catastrophic failure over Denver on Saturday. United said it is temporarily removing those aircraft from service. The announcements came a day after United Airlines Flight 328 had to make an emergency landing at …

Reuters reports: New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday over its handling of worker safety issues around the Covid-19 pandemic at two warehouses, just days after the retailer filed its own lawsuit seeking to block her case. In a complaint filed in a New York state court in Manhattan, James said Amazon’s drive for faster growth …

The New York Times reports: It will not be the biggest or the best implosion ever. An auction for the rights to detonate the dynamite to begin the implosion of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., fizzled. Front-row seats to view Wednesday morning’s planned spectacle were sold on the cheap. Onlookers in cars will be charged $10 …

The Associated Press reports: Struggling luxury car brand Jaguar will be fully electric by 2025, the British company said Monday as it outlined a plan to phase out internal combustion engines. Jaguar Land Rover, which is owned by Indian conglomerate Tata Motors, hopes the move will help turn around the fortunes of the 86-year-old Jaguar brand, which for many epitomizes …

The New York Daily News reports: Last call is getting a little later. Gov. Cuomo on Sunday issued an executive order pushing the statewide curfew for bars, restaurants and other establishments with liquor licenses from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. “Hospitalizations and the positivity rate continue to decline, and with the holiday surge now in our rear-view mirror, we must …

The New York Daily News reports: New York’s sports arenas and large concert venues can reopen later this month with COVID testing, capacity limits and other protocols in place, Gov. Cuomo announced Wednesday. The state has already granted approval for a Feb. 23 game between the Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, the governor said. …

CNN reports: Quaker Oats is releasing a new name and logo for its “Aunt Jemima” products, finally retiring the racist stereotype that has adorned its pancake mixes and syrups for decades. The name “Aunt Jemima,” long criticized as a racist caricature of a Black woman stemming from slavery, will be replaced with the Pearl Milling Company name and logo on …

The New York Daily News reports: Gov. Cuomo had a change of heart. Instead of a Valentine’s Day return, New York City restaurants can start serving customers indoors beginning Friday, two days earlier than originally planned, the governor announced Monday. Eateries in the Big Apple pleaded with Cuomo in recent days, asking him to allow them to open up dining …