Business

The New York Daily News reports: After already giving away more than 1.5 million doughnuts to the inoculated since March, the Winston Salem, North Carolina-headquartered doughnut chain has announced it will double the pleasure during National Doughnut Day. On June 4, Krispy Kreme will give two free doughnuts to Americans who have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination shot – …

Australia’s Today Show reports: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce [photo] is calling for more Australian companies to come forward with perks and incentives encouraging the public to get the COVID-19 vaccine. The airline’s vaccine incentive program, which launches in July, will offer several deals including unlimited travel for a year for 10 lucky families. “We are looking at giving 1000 points …

The Wall Street Journal reports: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice is personally on the hook for nearly $700 million in loans his coal companies took out from now-defunct Greensill Capital, according to people familiar with the loans and documents described to The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Justice’s personal guarantee of the loans, which hasn’t been reported, puts financial pressure on …

NBC News reports: Diners are mostly free to speak their mind at a Northern California cafe, but doing so through the protective confines of a mask will cost a cover charge of $5. Fiddlehead’s Cafe in Mendocino on Sunday put up a sign announcing the fee for customers who wear masks while ordering. In March, the cafe announced an ongoing …

USA Today reports: Southwest Airlines has ditched its plans to resume alcohol sales in June and July given a spike in in-flight incidents, including a an altercation between a flight attendant and passenger that sent the flight attendant to the hospital Sunday. “Given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions in-flight, we have made the decision to pause …

The Hill reports: Seventy percent of Americans favor vaccine verification while traveling by plane or staying in a hotel, a new PwC survey found. Over half of respondents to a survey released on Friday said they support policies that would prevent people who don’t show proof of vaccination from traveling. Only 14 percent said they would be upset if they …

ABC News reports: A concert promoter in Florida came up with a creative way to encourage his community to get vaccinated by offering $18 discounted tickets to an upcoming show for those who have been vaccinated — and charging $999.99 per ticket for those who have not. Paul Williams of Leadfoot Promotions in Tampa Bay said he came up with …

USA Today reports: Cruising in U.S. waters can officially resume in June. The first large cruise ship has been approved by the CDC to sail in June. Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary Royal Caribbean Group, is the first cruise line to receive approval to sail one of its ships with paying passengers on board. The Celebrity Edge will depart on a …

Gothamist reports: Vessel, the hulking Shawarma-like installation in Hudson Yards which closed down in January after a spate of suicides there, will reopen this Friday with a few major changes. Visitors will no longer be able to visit Vessel alone—they have to come in groups of two or more—and they are now charging people $10 to enter at most times. …

“So, why would one of the world’s richest men pay almost twice the value for a struggling movie studio that recently went bankrupt? “Well, it could be that Jeff Bezos has an ongoing feud with the former president. Guess what? All the outtakes from The Apprentice are owned by MGM. “Holy mother of DVD extras! The private footage of a …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: In a landmark mega deal, Amazon is acquiring MGM Holdings — whose storied studio boasts one of the largest film and TV libraries — in a bid to turbocharge its Prime membership offering to customers and potentially mine intellectual property of franchises such as James Bond and Rocky. The deal, pending regulatory approval, values the studio …

The New York Times reports: The District of Columbia sued Amazon on Tuesday, accusing it of artificially raising prices for the products in its ubiquitous online marketplace and around the web by abusing its monopoly power, a sign that regulators in the United States are increasingly turning their attention to the company’s dominance across the economy. In the lawsuit, the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Amazon.com Inc. is nearing a deal to buy the Hollywood studio MGM Holdings for almost $9 billion including debt, said people familiar with the matter, a pact that would turn a film operation founded in the silent era into a streaming asset for the e-commerce giant. An agreement could be announced as early as this …

“There are organizations, particularly universities and colleges who are saying, not withstanding what the federal government is requiring, if you want to come into campus and be in in-person learning, you’re going to have to show proof of vaccination. “Cruise ships will likely be doing that. Airlines will likely be doing that. So you’re going to have at, a local, …

The New York Daily News reports: As the pandemic wanes, US retailers are frantically moving to clear excess hand sanitizer. After frantically stocking up on disinfectants last year, consumers have largely stopped buying them, partly because the CDC now says that there is minimal risk of getting COVID-19 by touching surfaces. That’s a big headache for stores that have anti-germ …

Page Six reports: Following his breakup with Jennifer Lopez, Alex Rodriguez is going for a glow up. The former baseball pro, 45, teamed up with Hims & Hers — the beauty and wellness company in which he and Lopez, 51, became investors together last year — to develop the brand’s first makeup for men. “I wanted to create a product …

Bloomberg News reports: CNA Financial Corp., among the largest insurance companies in the U.S., paid $40 million in late March to regain control of its network after a ransomware attack, according to people with knowledge of the attack. The Chicago-based company paid the hackers about two weeks after a trove of company data was stolen, and CNA officials were locked …

New York City’s ABC News affiliate reports: Walgreens, Whole Foods and Kroger-owned stores have joined a list of businesses that say fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in their stores, following the CDC’s recommendation. All three stores — like Walmart, Trader Joe’s and Costco before them — say the policy only changes if local regulations allow it. …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Joseph Blount, CEO of Colonial Pipeline Co., told The Wall Street Journal that he authorized the ransom payment of $4.4 million because executives were unsure how badly the cyberattack had breached its systems or how long it would take to bring the pipeline back. “I know that’s a highly controversial decision,” Mr. Blount said in …

Car & Driver reports: We’ve said it before, and we’ll keep saying it for a while: there are no full self-driving cars available for sale today. Completely autonomous vehicles remain a technology from the future. Auto companies that try to promote their driver-assistance features as “full self driving” could run afoul of regulators. See also: Tesla. The California Department of …