CNN – Business/Consumer

By Jennifer Korn, CNN (CNN) — Thanks to generative AI technology, you can now listen to a soothing Christmas bedtime story told by the late legendary actor Jimmy Stewart. Stewart, star of “It’s a Wonderful Life” who died in 1997, is the voice behind a new audio story released Tuesday on the sleep and meditation

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — The former head of information security at Twitter, now called X, is accusing the company of firing him after he objected to demands by owner Elon Musk and his associates to make cuts to safety systems. Shortly after Musk’s takeover of Twitter late last year, the billionaire’s

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — A very real legal drama over coffee is brewing on the set of a fictional TV show. The ranch of Tyler Sheridan, who is the showrunner and creator of the hit TV show “Yellowstone,” is suing the coffee brand created by Cole Hauser, one of the show’s

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Mortgage rates continued to fall this week, averaging just over 7%. It is the sixth straight week rates have dropped, undoing seven previous consecutive weeks of increases. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to an average of 7.03% in the week ending December 7, down from 7.22% the

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk wants Bob Iger fired. The X owner and erratic billionaire conspiracy theorist went on a rampage Thursday against the Disney chief executive, assailing Iger for the Magic Kingdom’s decision to pull advertisements from his imperiled social media platform, and declaring that Iger should be forcibly removed from his job. “He should

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The walls appear to be caving in on the University of Pennsylvania’s president, Liz Magill, who faces scathing criticism over her performance at a House hearing earlier this week. Prominent donor Ross Stevens threatened to claw back a $100 million donation. The university’s board of trustees held

By Brian Fung, CNN Washington (CNN) — Foreign governments have reportedly attempted to spy on iPhone and Android users through the mobile app notifications they receive on their smartphones — and the US government has forced Apple and Google to keep quiet about it, according to a top US senator. Through legal demands sent to

By Jack Guy, CNN London (CNN) — Cinemagoers in Japan will soon be able to see box office hit “Oppenheimer,” months after much of the rest of the world. The blockbuster’s release was postponed amid controversy over an unofficial marketing campaign that critics said trivialized the 1945 nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Film distributor

By Arya Jyothi and Yara Enany, CNN Business Abu Dhabi (CNN) — The construction industry is among the biggest contributors to global heating, and one of the toughest sectors to decarbonize. Constructing buildings and manufacturing and transporting materials accounts for about 11% of all global carbon emissions, according to the World Green Building Council. Now,

By Alicia Wallace, CNN Minneapolis (CNN) — Employers are growing more cautious, pulling down some job postings and reining in hiring. Employees are sticking around more and not bouncing as readily for better opportunities. Welcome to the wait-and-see job market. Some of those holding patterns are being reflected in the federal jobs reports that have

By Samantha Delouya, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — On Monday, the US Supreme Court grappled with one of the highest-profile bankruptcy cases the court has taken on in decades. The case hinges on the legality of OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma’s multibillion-dollar bankruptcy plan ­— which would have the Sackler family, who once owned the pharmaceutical giant,

By Michelle Toh, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — For the first time, Hong Kong’s leader has welcomed Saudi Arabian elites to the city for an investment conference, in an example of how it is embracing new potential business partners as it confronts a slumping economy and geopolitical uncertainty. In opening remarks on Thursday, Hong Kong

By Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN New York (CNN) — Public support is building for changes to zoning codes and other laws that have dominated American housing policy for decades and restricted new development. A new Pew Charitable Trusts poll shows broad public approval for several policy initiatives that would make it easier to build new housing,

By Laura He, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China’s exports increased for the first time since April, while imports inched downward, data from the world’s second largest economy showed on Thursday. Exports in US dollar terms rose 0.5% in November from a year ago, reversing a 6.4% decline in October, according to the General Administration

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — Microsoft’s battle to defend its acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard is not yet over. The US government said Wednesday that a federal appeals court should block Microsoft’s recent purchase of Activision because a lower-court judge was too deferential to Microsoft’s promises about the future of “Call of

By Danielle Wiener-Bronner, CNN New York (CNN) — Shedding light on its long-awaited and oddly secretive CosMc’s concept, McDonald’s on Wednesday finally shared more about the café pilot, which seems to be its answer to Starbucks. It was weirder than expected. Over the summer, McDonald’s teased the test of a new restaurant concept. We knew

By Clare Duffy, CNN New York (CNN) — New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has accused Meta Platforms of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators on Facebook and Instagram in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, the latest in a string of legal actions related to alleged harms to young users caused by the social media

By Chris Isidore, CNN New York (CNN) — A woman who threw a bowl of hot food in the face of a Chipotle worker has been sentenced to a month in jail — and two months working a fast food job. Videos of the woman, Rosemary Hayne, berating Chipotle worker Emily Russell on September 5

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — The sell-off in the oil market accelerated Wednesday, with US crude prices sinking below $70 a barrel for the first time since July. The latest wave of selling bodes well for consumers, suggesting gas prices could fall even closer towards $3 a gallon nationally. Gas prices bottomed out at

By Oliver Darcy, CNN (CNN) — Hundreds of staffers at The Washington Post are set to strike for 24 hours on Thursday, protesting recently announced cuts to the newspaper’s workforce and applying pressure on management to reach an agreement on a new union contract. “Taking this historic action is not a decision we came to