A coalition of labor unions ended its proxy fight at Starbucks — months after a social media post by union officials voiced “solidarity with Palestine,” triggering calls to boycott the coffee chain after Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7.Starbucks and the Strategic Organizing Center — which represents the Service Employees International Union, parent of Starbucks Workers United — said Wednesday they have agreed to work towards a “foundational framework on collective bargaining” a ...

Wall Street fell on Tuesday, with weakness in megacap growth stocks such as Apple and Tesla weighing on the Nasdaq, while investors assessed a slew of economic data and awaited remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.In afternoon trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 459 points, or 1.2%, to 38,507, the S&P 500 slid 1.3%, and the Nasdaq was down 2%.Data showed US services industry growth slowed a bit in February amid a decline in employment, but a measure of new orders increased to a six ...

Apple’s iPhone sales in China fell 24% year-on-year in the first six weeks of 2024, according to research firm Counterpoint, as the company faced increased competition from domestic rivals such as Huawei.The tech giant’s chief competitor in China in premium smartphones, Huawei, saw unit sales rise by 64% in the period, according to the report.This could fan fears of a slowdown in demand for the company, whose revenue forecast for the current quarter was $6 billion below Wall Street expectations.Counterpoint ...

The Middle East franchisee of Starbucks said Tuesday it has begun firing around 2,000 workers at its coffee shops across the region after the brand found itself targeted by activists during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.The Kuwait-based Alshaya Group, a private family firm holding franchise rights for a variety of Western companies including The Cheesecake Factory, H&M and Shake Shack, issued a statement acknowledging the firings at its Middle Eastern and North African locations.“As a resul ...

Target on Tuesday reported higher holiday-quarter earnings on a smaller-than-expected sales decline and predicted that annual comparable sales would come in largely above Wall Street expectations, sending its shares up 12% in early trade.The mass merchandiser is banking on same-day services, product launches and a new membership program to boost spending at its stores.Target plans to launch a membership feature called Target Circle 360 next month, which would offer shoppers unlimited same-day delivery, CEO ...

Facebook and Instagram users were met with a message that the online services were down on Tuesday.Meta’s signature social media platforms informed users of a “failure to load” on Tuesday morning.If you are trying and failing to get access to your Facebook and Instagram account, you are not alone. The Downdetector website showed a huge spike in outages for both Facebook and Instagram just after 10 a.m. Eastern time Tuesday. This is a developing story. Check back for updates. ...

Artificial-intelligence startup Anthropic — whose backers include Google and Amazon — on Monday launched an updated group of AI chatbots called Claude 3, claiming they are its fastest and most powerful yet.The company claims Claude 3 Opus, the most intelligent of its three new models, outperforms Google’s Gemini Ultra and OpenAI’s GPT-4 across industry benchmark tests, including level expert knowledge, graduate-level expert reasoning, and basic mathematics.“It exhibits near-human levels of comprehension and ...

The sports streaming venture formed by Fox Corp, Walt Disney and Warner Bros Discovery expects to draw 5 million subscribers in its first five years, Fox boss Lachlan Murdoch said Monday.The new sports-centric service is expected to launch in the fall with hopes of luring an audience Murdoch has dubbed “cord-nevers,” referring to younger viewers who have eschewed traditional cable subscriptions.“We’re running really hard and really fast to get the service up and running before the start of the college footb ...

General Motors is recalling nearly 820,000 pickup trucks over a faulty electronic latch mechanism used to open the trucks’ tailgates, increasing the risk of road hazards and crashes.Detroit-based GM said in a safety recall notice earlier reported on by CNN that affected vehicles include 570,434 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra with model years between 2020 and 2024 in the US, while an additional 249,000 were sold in Canada.All of the gates on the affected trucks’ beds may short circuit if water gets into the ...

Waymo was cleared by California regulators to expand its embattled self-driving car service into Los Angeles and San Mateo counties — despite pushback from local officials who have cited safety concerns following the robotaxi’s rocky test period.The robotaxi startup — owned by Google-parent Alphabet — got the green light from the California Public Utilities Commission to expand its services, though the government agency didn’t say when Waymo could begin operating in America’s second-largest city, according ...