Today: September 24, 2024
Today: September 24, 2024

World

World

No more free coffee on your birthday? Companies rein in customer rewards programs — here's why

Reward programs, including birthday freebies and discounts, have long been a way for brands to build loyalty and incentivize spending. But now some companies are becoming a bit more stingy — and customers are taking notice. Last fall, for example, many balked at Dunkin’s decision to stop offering a free drink on their birthday and instead give them triple loyalty points on their purchase. On June 1, Sephora started requiring a $25 minimum purchase for online customers looking to claim a free gift and 250 loyalty points during their birthday month. And Red Robin added a dine-in

July 05, 2023
No more free coffee on your birthday? Companies rein in customer rewards programs — here's why
World

Mental illness played no role in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, prosecution expert testifies

The man who gunned down 11 people at a Pittsburgh synagogue does not have a psychiatric or neurological disorder, and he was capable of forming the intent to kill, a neurologist testified Wednesday at the killer’s federal death penalty trial. Dr. Ryan Darby, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was called by prosecutors to rebut defense experts who previously testified that Robert Bowers is psychotic and has brain abnormalities. Bowers, 50, a truck driver from suburban Baldwin, was convicted last month of killing members of three congregations who had gathered at the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct.

July 05, 2023
Mental illness played no role in Pittsburgh synagogue massacre, prosecution expert testifies
World

UN records the highest number of 'grave violations' against children in conflicts

Children experienced the highest number of “grave violations” in conflicts verified by the United Nations in 2022, with the conflicts between Israeli and Palestinians and in Congo and Somalia putting the most youngsters in peril, the U.N. children’s agency said Wednesday. UNICEF also expressed particular concern about their plight in Haiti, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Ukraine, where Russia has been put on the U.N. blacklist. “Grave violations” include the recruitment and use of children by combatants, killings and injuries, sexual violence, abductions, and attacks on schools and hospitals. Omar Abdi, UNICEF’s deputy executive director, told the

July 05, 2023
UN records the highest number of 'grave violations' against children in conflicts
World

Strong demand drives US new vehicle sales higher in the first half of the year

Demand for new SUVs, trucks and cars in the U.S. picked up steam in the second quarter, but the stronger sales kept prices high for consumers. Auto sales rose a healthy 16.8% from April through June to just over 4.1 million, fueled by pent-up demand from nearly two years of short supplies due to factories that were hobbled by the global computer chip shortage. For much of the year, average prices pulled back a bit and automakers raised discounts a little. But in June, those trends began to stall out, said Ivan Drury, director of insights for Edmunds.com. Consumers paid

July 05, 2023
Strong demand drives US new vehicle sales higher in the first half of the year
World

Norfolk Southern says other companies should share blame in fiery Ohio derailment

Norfolk Southern says the owner of the rail car that caused the fiery Ohio derailment in February failed to properly maintain it in the years before the crash, and the railroad wants to make sure that company and the owners of the other cars involved help pay for the costs. The railroad filed a complaint Friday against all the car owners and shippers connected to the hazardous chemicals that spilled in the Feb. 3 derailment. As part of that, Norfolk Southern said GATX didn’t follow the car manufacturer’s recommendations for taking care of the plastic pellet

July 05, 2023
Norfolk Southern says other companies should share blame in fiery Ohio derailment
World

Vermont will pay $16.5M to settle lawsuits by foreign investors in fraudulent ski developments

The state of Vermont has agreed to pay $16.5 million to settle all pending and potential lawsuits from foreign investors in development projects at the Jay Peak resort, the ski area that was shaken by a massive fraud case involving its former owner and president, officials said Wednesday. In 2016, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission and the state alleged that former Jay Peak owner Ariel Quiros and former president William Stenger took part in a “massive eight-year fraudulent scheme.” The civil allegations involved misusing more than $200 million of about $400 million raised for various ski area developments from

July 05, 2023
Vermont will pay $16.5M to settle lawsuits by foreign investors in fraudulent ski developments
World

Toxic gas leak in South Africa kills 16 people, including three children, police say

At least 16 people, including three children, died when toxic gas leaked from a cyclinder near Johannesburg, South African police said Wednesday. Emergency services said that as many as 24 people might be dead. It wasn’t immediately clear why there was a discrepancy in the death toll. Search and rescue teams were still working through the area trying to ascertain the extent of the casualties. The incident happened in an informal settlement in the city of Boksburg on the eastern outskirts of Johannesburg, the South African Police Services said. Emergency services spokesman William Ntladi said the deaths

July 05, 2023
Toxic gas leak in South Africa kills 16 people, including three children, police say
World

Meta takes aim at Twitter with the launch of rival app Threads

Meta unveiled an app to rival Twitter on Thursday, appearing to target users looking for an alternative to the social media platform owned — and frequently changed — by Elon Musk. Called Threads, the new offering is billed as a text-based version of Meta’s photo-sharing app Instagram that the company says provides “a new, separate space for real-time updates and public conversations.” The app is live in Apple and Google Android app stores in more than 100 countries including the U.S., Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan. Users will get a Twitter-like microblogging experience, according to screenshots provided

July 05, 2023
Meta takes aim at Twitter with the launch of rival app Threads
World

White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr. says he will participate in baseball's Home Run Derby

Chicago White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr. plans to participate in baseball’s Home Run Derby in Seattle on Monday. Robert made the announcement Wednesday on Instagram, with a highlight video and a caption saying “The Panther is ready for the Home Run Derby! #homerunderby2023.” “I’m pretty sure I’m going to feel very happy during those two days,” Robert said. “It’s going to be very special for me.” Robert will now be participating in another showcase event after being selected to his first All-Star team. He was second in the American League behind Shohei Ohtani with 25 homers,

July 05, 2023
White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr. says he will participate in baseball's Home Run Derby
World

Mike Trout has surgery on his broken left wrist; timetable for return unknown

All-Star center fielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels had surgery on his fractured left wrist Wednesday, two days after he was injured fouling off a pitch. “I just talked to Mike; he just got out of surgery. He feels great,” manager Phil Nevin said before the Angels finished a series against the San Diego Padres. “The surgery went well. We spoke to the doctor a minute ago, but it sounds like everything went great.” Also Wednesday, two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani was in the lineup as the designated hitter a day after coming out the

July 05, 2023
Mike Trout has surgery on his broken left wrist; timetable for return unknown
World

Jenson Brooksby tells the AP he accepted a provisional ban for allegedly missing 3 doping tests

American tennis player Jenson Brooksby accepted a provisional suspension from the International Tennis Integrity Agency on Wednesday after being accused of missing three doping tests in a 12-month period, he told The Associated Press. “Taking the provisional suspension is the best decision that we have to make right now,” Brooksby, a 22-year-old from Sacramento, California, said in a telephone interview. “I’ve never failed a drug test. I’ve never taken any bad substances.” He plans to go to arbitration. Under antidoping rules, athletes can be penalized without failing a test if they have three “whereabout failures” within a year’s span. Brooksby

July 06, 2023
Jenson Brooksby tells the AP he accepted a provisional ban for allegedly missing 3 doping tests
World

Nevada secures $285M opioid settlement with Walgreens, bringing total settlements to $1 billion

The state of Nevada has reached a $285 million settlement with Walgreens regarding the pharmacy chain’s role in the opioid epidemic, the state’s top lawyer announced Wednesday. The last in a series of multiyear settlements with pharmaceutical companies, retailers and others, it pushes Nevada’s total anticipated payments stemming from opioid claims to $1.1 billion, state Attorney General Aaron Ford’s office said in a news release. Nevada is among numerous states that have reached settlements now totaling more than $50 billion nationwide. “When I first took office as attorney general, I made it clear that seeking justice

July 06, 2023
Nevada secures $285M opioid settlement with Walgreens, bringing total settlements to $1 billion
World

Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz homers after umpires had him remove knob piece from bat

Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz pointed at the knob of his bat after hitting a 455-foot homer at Washington on Wednesday night in a reference to the removal of a covering earlier in the game. Before De La Cruz led off the second inning, umpires had the slugger remove a white or clear object from the end of his bat. It looked as if it was an empty covering designed to hold a sensor that takes measurements at the plate. Nationals manager Dave Martinez talked to plate umpire Quinn Wolcott about the knob piece before

July 06, 2023
Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz homers after umpires had him remove knob piece from bat
World

Father of the bride, teen who tried to save friend among 5 killed in Philadelphia shooting

A father who was preparing to walk his eldest daughter down the aisle. An aspiring actor who appeared as an extra in the “Creed” movie franchise. A teenager who tried to help a wounded friend. These are the stories of those killed in the all-too-familiar thrum of another mass shooting. Five people in a working-class neighborhood of Philadelphia were gunned down Monday in what became the deadliest among a rash of U.S. shootings that occurred around the July Fourth holiday. A gunman in a ski mask and body armor appeared to fire on people at random while

July 06, 2023
Father of the bride, teen who tried to save friend among 5 killed in Philadelphia shooting
World

Cameraman at Yankee Stadium injured by wild throw from Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson

A cameraman was injured Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium when he was hit in the head by a wild throw from Baltimore Orioles rookie shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Positioned right next to the New York Yankees’ dugout on the first-base side, Pete Stendel of YES Network was struck by a hurried throw from Henderson, who fired high to first as he tried to complete a double play in the fifth inning. The game was delayed about 17 minutes as the Yankees’ athletic training staff and medical personnel tended to Stendel in the camera well. Baltimore players came

July 06, 2023
Cameraman at Yankee Stadium injured by wild throw from Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson
World

Cowser a hit in his MLB debut as Kremer pitches the scuffling Orioles past the Yankees 6-3

Touted prospect Colton Cowser hit an RBI single in his major league debut and scored the go-ahead run when fellow rookie Jordan Westburg followed with a two-run triple, sending Dean Kremer and the Baltimore Orioles past the New York Yankees 6-3 on Wednesday night. Kremer (9-4) struck out a career-high 10 in seven innings of four-hit ball. Ryan O’Hearn lined a two-run homer in the ninth, and All-Star relievers Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista combined to get the final six outs as the second-place Orioles won for only the second time in eight games. Josh Donaldson

July 06, 2023
Cowser a hit in his MLB debut as Kremer pitches the scuffling Orioles past the Yankees 6-3
World

Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, kills 3 people and wounds more, mayor says

A Russian missile attack in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, killed three people and wounded eight, the mayor said Thursday. Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said around 60 apartments and 50 cars in the area of strike were damaged. Emergency service workers are searching in the debris for more people trapped. Sadovyi addressed residents in a video message, saying the attack was the largest on Lviv’s civilian infrastructure since the beginning of the full-scale invasion last year. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian war refugees have sought safety in Lviv from other areas to the east.

July 06, 2023
Russian missile attack on Lviv, Ukraine, kills 3 people and wounds more, mayor says
World

Relatives of El Paso Walmart shooting victims seek justice, saying they're down but not out

A brother who traveled more than 1,000 miles to confront his sister’s killer. An uncle of an orphaned 4-year-old whose parents died while shielding the boy from the spray of bullets. A wife whose husband was gunned down at her side while their 9-year-old granddaughter looked on. Nearly four years after a white gunman killed 23 people at a Walmart in El Paso in a racist attack that targeted Hispanic shoppers, relatives of the victims are packing a courtroom near the U.S.-Mexico border this week to see Patrick Crusius punished for one of the nation’s

July 06, 2023
Relatives of El Paso Walmart shooting victims seek justice, saying they're down but not out
World

Hearing underway for first of 2 Iowa teens who pleaded guilty in 2021 beating death of teacher

A sentencing hearing for the first of two Iowa teenagers who pleaded guilty to beating their high school Spanish teacher to death with a baseball bat was underway Thursday with details about the investigation into the killing. Willard Miller and Jeremy Goodale pleaded guilty in April to the Nov. 2, 2021, attack on Nohema Graber in a park in Fairfield, Iowa, where the 66-year-old teacher regularly walked after school. Prosecutors said the teens, who were 16 at the time, were angry at Graber because of a bad grade she had given Miller. Miller will be

July 06, 2023
Hearing underway for first of 2 Iowa teens who pleaded guilty in 2021 beating death of teacher
World

FIA not interested in early renegotiations of bedrock Formula One agreement, president tells AP

The head of the FIA says the motorsports governing body has no interest in signing an early renewal of its contract with Liberty Media and the 10 Formula One teams, who have stated their wish to sweeten the deal while the series is basking in global popularity. The eighth and current Concorde Agreement — which sets the rules and regulations for F1 as well as how television revenue and prize money is distributed — began in 2021 and runs through the 2025 season. In a May conference call with Wall Street analysts, the CEO of Liberty Media, which holds the

July 06, 2023
FIA not interested in early renegotiations of bedrock Formula One agreement, president tells AP
World

Rights group reports allegations of dozens of abuses in critical minerals supply chains

A human rights advocacy group says it found allegations of dozens of labor and environmental abuses by Chinese-invested companies involved in mining or processing minerals used in renewable energy. The report released Thursday by the Business and Human Rights Resource Center in London says it found 102 cases of alleged abuses in all phases of using such minerals: from initial explorations and licensing to mining and processing. The report studied supply chains for nine minerals — cobalt, copper, lithium, manganese, nickel, zinc, aluminum, chromium and the so-called rare earth elements. All are vital for high-tech products

July 06, 2023
Rights group reports allegations of dozens of abuses in critical minerals supply chains
World

An EU mission in Gaza once represented hope. Today, it is a symbol of a sputtering Western vision

It’s been 16 years since the borders of the Gaza Strip slammed shut after Hamas militants seized control of the territory. The takeover forced the European Union to withdraw monitors who had been deployed at a Gaza border crossing to help the Palestinians prepare for independence. Yet the EU has regularly renewed funding for the unit since then, most recently late last month. The continued existence of the unit known as EUBAM is an extreme example of the West’s willingness to keep pumping hundreds of millions of dollars a year into the moribund vision of a two-state

July 06, 2023
An EU mission in Gaza once represented hope. Today, it is a symbol of a sputtering Western vision
World

Hong Kong changes law to slash directly elected council seats, undermining democratic challenges

Hong Kong lawmakers on Thursday passed an amendment to a law to eliminate most directly elected seats on local district councils, the last major political representative bodies chosen by the public, shutting down further democratic challenges in the city. The changes include slashing the proportion of directly elected seats in the municipal-level organization being from some 90% currently to just about 20% — even lower than the level when these bodies were first set up in the 1980s, when Hong Kong was ruled by Britain. The rest of the 470 seats will be filled by members

July 06, 2023
Hong Kong changes law to slash directly elected council seats, undermining democratic challenges
World

Stock market today: Asian markets extend losses after Wall Street drifts lower

Shares slipped in Asia on Thursday after Wall Street drifted downward following a rally that sent it roaring 16% higher for the year so far. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index dropped 3% on heavy selling of Chinese banks shares after Goldman Sachs downgraded them citing concerns about the slowing economy and lenders’ exposures to debt. Japan’s Nikkei 225 lost 1.7%. U.S. futures declined and oil prices were mixed. Share prices had soared recently amid signs the U.S. economy is stronger than had been feared, fending off recession so far despite high interest rates. Minutes from the Federal

July 06, 2023
Stock market today: Asian markets extend losses after Wall Street drifts lower
World

French justice is working overtime and the mood is stern after thousands of teen arrests

At 19, he was the oldest of the group of teens accused of lobbing Molotov cocktails at the police station of their suburban hometown. “Why?” the judge asked Riad, who was taken into custody after he was identified in video surveillance images of the group from June 29, the second night of nationwide unrest following the police shooting of another suburban teenager outside Paris. “For justice for Nahel,” Riad said. Slumped and slightly disheveled after five nights in jail, he said he didn’t know about the peaceful march organized by Nahel Merzouk’s family. He explained the

July 06, 2023
French justice is working overtime and the mood is stern after thousands of teen arrests

Follow