ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The CEO of the nation’s largest full-service restaurant owner will retire in May. Darden Restaurants announced Friday that Gene Lee will step down as CEO after seven years, but will remain as board chairman. He will be replaced by Rick Cardenas, the company’s president and chief operating officer. The company is
Continue Reading By ERIC TUCKER and ALAN SUDERMAN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — In the months since President Joe Biden warned Russian leader Vladimir Putin to crack down on ransomware gangs in his country, there hasn’t been a massive attack like the one last May that resulted in gasoline shortages. But the problem hasn’t evaporated, with hackers
Continue Reading By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Nations across Europe are reintroducing stricter measures to stem a new wave of COVID-19 infections spurred by the highly transmissible omicron variant. As cases escalate, alarmed ministers in France, Cyprus and Austria tightened travel restrictions. Denmark closed theaters, concert halls, amusement parks and museums. Ireland imposed an
Continue Reading By JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Spanish truckers have won concessions from the government to help check rising fuel costs and improve work conditions after threatening to stop hauling freight just before Christmas. Spain, like many governments across the globe, faced pressure to help relieve the pain caused by record-high inflation. The
Continue Reading By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — A senior Russian diplomat says that Moscow may take unspecified new measures to ensure its security if the U.S. and its allies continue to take provocative action and ignore its demand for guarantees precluding NATO’s expansion to Ukraine. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov accused Western allies of
Continue Reading SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — In a story published Dec. 16, 2021, about new workplace pandemic rules in California, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the rules taking effect in January erase distinctions between vaccinated and unvaccinated employees after close contact with someone who is infected. Unvaccinated employees still must quarantine, while vaccinated employees do not.Â
Continue Reading By GEOFF MULVIHILL and ANDREW DeMILLO Associated Press A federal appeals court panel has ruled that President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate for larger private employers can take effect. Friday’s 2-1 ruling from a panel of judges on the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reverses a lower-court ruling that had paused the requirement. Republican-led states
Continue Reading By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The jury that will weigh 11 charges of fraud and conspiracy against former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes finally got the case late Friday after a three-month trial that captivated Silicon Valley. The hand-off came after lawyers for the opposing sides wrapped up a second
Continue Reading By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif (AP) — A lawyer for former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday capped off his attempt to convince a a jury to acquit her of fraud charges by likening her final days running the troubled blood-testing startup to a captain valiantly trying to save a sinking
Continue Reading By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board has confirmed a vote to form a union at a Starbucks store in Buffalo. That means the coffee retailer, for the first time, will have to bargain with organized labor at a company-owned U.S. store. The union has filed objections in
Continue Reading By DON THOMPSON Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom says he will seek more than $300 million in state funding over three years to boost law enforcement efforts to combat retail theft. The state has been stung by recent headline-grabbing smash-and-grab robberies. Newsom on Friday proposed giving $255 million in grants
Continue Reading BY JENNIFER PELTZ and BOBBY CAINA CALVAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. officials intensified calls for unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated in the face of the new omicron variant that contributed to a record number of infections in New York and threatened to wipe out a second holiday season in Europe. Friday had
Continue Reading SEATTLE (AP) — Aerospace giant Boeing says it’s suspending a company vaccination requirement for all U.S.-based employees. The Seattle Times reports the company adopted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate in October to ensure compliance with the federal executive order that required all employees of federal contractors to be vaccinated. The mandate faced opposition from a vocal
Continue Reading By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN JOSE, Calif (AP) — A lawyer for former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes on Friday capped off his attempt to convince a a jury to acquit her of fraud charges by likening her final days running the troubled blood-testing startup to a captain valiantly trying to save a sinking
Continue Reading By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s major population centers of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area have both lost population in the same year for the first time. California lost 173,000 people in the year ending July 1. It’s the second time ever the state has reported an annual
Continue Reading NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: General Motors, Steelcase fall; FedEx, Cerner rise.
Continue Reading By DAMIAN J. TROISE and ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writers Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, marking their third losing week in the last four. Banks, technology companies and industrials all helped pull major indexes lower Friday. The S&P 500 gave up 1%. The Nasdaq sliped 0.1% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.5%.
Continue Reading By TOM HAYS and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — After 12 days of testimony over three weeks, jurors heard from the final witnesses in the Ghislaine Maxwell sex trafficking trial. The British socialite told the judge Friday she wouldn’t testify because she was confident prosecutors hadn’t proved their case. Closing arguments are
Continue Reading By ADAM BEAM Associated Press SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California’s unemployment rate has fallen below 7% for the fist time since March of last year at the start of the pandemic. Data made public Friday shows hiring in California slowed significantly in November compared to October. But the state still added 45,700 new jobs in
Continue Reading By MICHAEL R. BLOOD Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Leading California cannabis companies are warning Gov. Gavin Newsom that the state’s legal marijuana industry is on the verge of collapse. A letter signed by more than two dozen executives, industry officials and advocates follows years of complaints about heavy taxes and regulation that they
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