A Michigan judge has sentenced the former executive of a Massachusetts specialty pharmacy to at least 10 years in prison for the deaths of 11 people back in 2012. They were injected with tainted pain medication, which caused a meningitis outbreak that affected hundreds across the U.S. Barry Cadden’s sentence for involuntary manslaughter will be served at the same time as his current federal sentence for other crimes tied to the outbreak. Judge Matthew McGivney says Cadden put the “bottom line over... Читать дальше...
A soon-to-be released Biden administration report to Congress does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons, That's according to three people who have been briefed on the national security memorandum to be submitted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lawmakers. All three requested anonymity to discuss the matter before the report's release. According to one U.S. official, the report is expected to be sharply critical of Israel even though it didn’t conclude... Читать дальше...
A cyberattack on the Ascension health system operating in 19 states across the U.S. forced some of its 140 hospitals to divert ambulances, caused patients to postpone medical tests and blocked online access to patient records. A spokesperson for Ascension says it detected what it called unusual activity Wednesday on its computer network systems. Officials refused to say whether the non-profit Catholic health care system headquartered in St. Louis was the victim of a ransomware attack, though the attack had the hallmarks of one. Читать дальше...
U.S. officials pledged nearly $200 million in new spending and other efforts Friday to help track and contain an outbreak of bird flu in the nation's dairy cows. The outbreak of the virus known as Type A H5N1 has spread to 42 herds in nine states. The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus. And they include about $28,000 each to help individual farms test cattle and bolster biosecurity efforts to halt the spread of the virus. Читать дальше...
About 700 workers have walked off the job at a hotel-casino near the Las Vegas Strip in what union organizers say will be a 48-hour strike after spending months trying to reach a deal for new five-year contract with Virgin Hotels. Culinary Union Local 226 said Friday's action marks their first major strike in 22 years. Virgin Hotels has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the union of negotiating in bad faith. The union reached agreements late last year with all the... Читать дальше...
This week’s new streaming entertainment releases include new music from Billie Eilish and Zayn Malik, the Oscar-winning “American Fiction” lands on Prime Video and “Bridgerton” returns to Netflix. Josh Brolin leads “Outer Range,” a Western about neighboring ranchers battling for land, while André Holland plays Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton in the new series “The Big Cigar” for Apple TV+. And 21 years isn’t that much time on a cosmic scale, but for fans of the science fiction epic Homeworld ... Читать дальше...
Consumer sentiment fell sharply in May to the lowest level in six months as Americans cited concerns about stubbornly high inflation and interest rates and fears that unemployment could rise. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index, released Friday in a preliminary version, dropped to 67.4 this month from a final reading of 77.2 in April. That is still about 14% higher than a year ago. Consumers’ outlook has generally been gloomy since the pandemic and particularly after inflation first spiked in 2021.
Hond has reported that its profit for the fiscal year through March jumped 70% as its vehicle sales grew and a weak yen buoyed overseas earnings. The Japanese automaker reported Friday that its annual profit totaled 1.1 trillion yen, or $7 billion, as sales surged nearly 21%. Weaker sales in China were offset by strong demand in the U.S. market. Honda sold more than 2.8 million vehicles globally, up from 2.3 million a year earlier, with sales growing in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. Honda was less optimistic about this fiscal year... Читать дальше...
Police have begun dismantling a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. People were being detained and video showed police roaming through the encampment. Organizers said only about 10 people were inside the camp, but a crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. The move comes several days after police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment. MIT had also started... Читать дальше...
The average taxpayer is getting a $2,852 refund, $75 more than last year. That's based on the most recent IRS data. So what should you do with that money? Experts generally advise putting it toward debt, loans and savings, but, for many people, that’s unrealistic. Courtney Alev, consumer financial advocate at Credit Karma, says a tax refund is typically the biggest extra windfall of the year. She says one in four people see it as free money and plan to spend on something they wouldn't otherwise. While she says this is understandable... Читать дальше...
The British economy bounced back strongly in the first three months of the year, bringing to an end to what economists termed a “technical recession.” The Office for National Statistics said Friday that the economy grew by 0.6% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, with broad-based strength across sectors. The increase was higher than the 0.4% predicted by economists. It comes after two quarters of modest declines, which in the U.K. is defined as a recession. Despite the quarterly increase... Читать дальше...
The Biden White House wants voters to know its differences with Republicans over taxes. The White House's National Economic Council Director, Lael Brainard, is to deliver remarks Friday on the 2017 income tax cuts that are set to expire after next year. The expiration of the tax cuts creates a challenge for the winner of November's presidential election. Brainard says President Joe Biden's policies would make the tax code fairer by raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations that avoid paying what they owe. Читать дальше...
Stocks in Asia are trading higher after a rally on Wall Street that pulled the S&P 500 back within 1% of its record. Investors were focused on the release of China’s April inflation figures. In Japan, the Finance Ministry reported a record current account surplus for the fiscal year through March, as strong auto exports whittled down its trade deficit and the nation racked up solid returns on overseas investments. However, weak consumer spending undermined that positive data. On Thursday, the... Читать дальше...
Sega Sammy is selling its Japanese resort complex Seagaia to Fortress Investment Group of the U.S. The Japanese entertainment company behind the “Sonic the Hedgehog” video games, said Friday that all of its shares in Phoenix Resort Co., which operates Seagaia in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, will be sold to Fortress. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The move, approved by Sega Sammy's board of directors, will result in a gain of about 8.5 billion yen, or $55 million, in extraordinary income for the fiscal year through March 2025. Читать дальше...
Air Vanuatu has filed for bankruptcy protection a day after it cancelled all international flights, stranding thousands of travelers. The South Pacific state-owned airline had cancelled more than 20 flights to and from the Australian cities of Sydney and Brisbane, and the New Zealand city of Auckland for the rest of the week. The airline said it was the result of “extended maintenance requirements” on their aircraft. The bankruptcy liquidators appointed from Ernst & Young Australia said safety... Читать дальше...
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is preparing to update his budget proposal. Newsom announced a nearly $38 billion budget deficit in January. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office said the deficit was actualy $58 billion if you include some reductions in public education spending. Since then, California's revenue has not improved. Newsom will announce his updated proposal on Friday. Collections from the state's three largest taxes were more than $6 billion below projections through the end of April. Читать дальше...
The third week of testimony in Donald Trump’s hush money trial is drawing to a close. It comes after jurors heard the dramatic, if not downright seamy, account of Stormy Daniels’ alleged sexual encounter with the former president. Meanwhile, prosecutors are gearing up for their most crucial witness: former Trump attorney Michael Cohen. Daniels’ story was a necessary building block for prosecutors. They are seeking to show that Trump and his allies bought up and buried potentially damaging stories... Читать дальше...
Some universities are vowing to provide information about how much university endowment money is invested in companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas war amid calls from pro-Palestinian protesters. As part of that effort, the University of Minnesota disclosed this week that about $5 million of its $2.27 billion endowment investments are tied to Israeli-based companies or U.S.-based defense contractors. To protesters it is a first step. A meeting with the university’s Board of Regents is scheduled for Friday. Читать дальше...
The judge in Donald Trump's hush money case has denied a second request from defense attorneys to declare a mistrial over Stormy Daniels' testimony. Daniels detailed, among other things, her alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump and the money she was paid to keep quiet about it. Her testimony concluded on Thursday and several other witnesses followed her on the stand. Prosecutors say Trump and others schemed to influence the 2016 presidential election by buying and burying negative stories that might hurt his campaign. Читать дальше...