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Over the last year, the worldwide web has started to look less worldwide. Europe is floating regulation that could impose temporary bans on US tech companies that violate its laws. The United States was on the verge of banning TikTok and WeChat, though the new Biden administration is rethinking that move. India, which did ban

Few things have changed less during the course of this century than this nation’s fleet of postal delivery vehicles. The squat, box-like van (OK, let’s just call them what they are–ugly) have a steering wheel on the right to make it easier for drivers to reach out and put mail in curbside mail boxes. They

Fry’s Electronics suddenly closed all of its stores overnight, ending a nearly four-decade run in business. The company, which had 31 stores across nine US states, said in a statement on its website that it “made the difficult decision to shut down its operations and close its business permanently” because of changing consumer shopping habits

TJ Maxx has taken a hit from the pandemic with fewer people visiting stores and picking up clothing. But the discount giant is betting that customers will re-emerge once they get the Covid-19 vaccine and “revenge” shop to make up for the lost year. TJX, the owner of discount chains TJ Maxx and Marshalls, said

TJMaxx has taken a hit from the pandemic with fewer people visiting stores and picking up clothing. But the discount giant is betting that customers will re-emerge once they get the Covid-19 vaccine and “revenge” shop to make up for the lost year. TJX, the owner of discount chains TJMaxx and Marshalls, said Wednesday that

The Federal Reserve is suffering a disruption in multiple payment services due to an operational error, the central bank said in a statement Wednesday. The Fed’s website indicates a service disruption for almost all of its payment services, and a spokesman confirmed these outages are ongoing and include Fedwire. Banks, businesses and government agencies rely

Lyft is adding an option to allow people to order a ride in a more retro way — by phone call — a year after Uber tried doing the same before shutting it down. The ride-hail company said Wednesday it launched a special service in dozens of Florida cities to allow people to call a

Dunkin’ is certainly appeasing avocado-craving millennials with its new menu item. Beginning Wednesday, the chain has added avocado toast to its menu at all US locations. Dunkin’ said the $2.99 item features a “creamy, mouthwatering avocado spread” consisting of avocado, sea salt, black pepper and a hint of lemon juice. The spread is placed atop

California’s net neutrality law can go into effect after a federal judge on Tuesday handed a defeat to broadband providers who had pushed to overturn the law. Industry groups had asked the US District Court for the Eastern District of California to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the legislation, but the groups’ request was denied.

The housing market is still red hot. But there are growing concerns about how much longer this strength can last. Home Depot reported earnings and sales that topped Wall Street’s forecasts Tuesday. Lowe’s also reported better-than-expected earnings and sales on Wednesday morning, and CEO Marvin Ellison said in a statement that sales were lifted thanks

Before last year, 28-year-old Meredith Giuliani thought voice notes were “kind of weird,” and she mostly stuck to texting. But after the pandemic hit, audio messages became a daily routine for her and many of her friends. “This is my way to debrief and tell everybody what’s going on,” she told CNN Business. “It’s not

Women now occupy at least one seat on the board of every major British company after a 50% increase in participation rates over five years, according to a report published on Wednesday. While men still dominate the upper ranks of top UK firms, the Hampton Alexander Review found that women now occupy 1,026 board seats

Retailers have been battered by the pandemic, which triggered a plunge in foot traffic and caused demand for products like work clothing to all but evaporate. But stock in Macy’s is now trading close to where it was before Covid-19 rattled markets, while Kohl’s has recovered all its losses. That raises the question: Are these

A version of this article first appeared in the “Reliable Sources” newsletter. You can sign up for free right here. Richard Winton, the prominent law enforcement reporter for the Los Angeles Times, was sitting in his home office late on Tuesday morning when he saw a tweet fly across his screen. The tweet was from

Mukesh Ambani has spent years trying to turn his inherited oil business into a tech empire. In 2020, that pivot really kicked into overdrive. Between March and November last year, even as the coronavirus upended lives and devastated economies around the world, India’s richest man was handed more than $27 billion to make a bet

Facebook will restore news pages in Australia after the government agreed on changes to a planned media code that the company said would allow it to retain greater control over what appears on its platform. The announcement caps months of bitter dispute between the American tech firm and Canberra, which had been working on legislation

Luxury electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors went public after a merger with “blank-check” firm Churchill Capital Corp IV, in the largest deal yet between a SPAC and an electric car company. The deal left the company with a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, as of this writing, and will give more than $4 billion in

Wall Street is increasingly concerned that a wave of spending when the economy reopens could cause prices to spike, spoiling the financial market party that’s been raging since last March. What’s happening: Government bond yields — which move opposite prices — have jumped, signaling rising optimism about the economic recovery. But a surging economy can

Instacart started as a grocery delivery service. But it’s increasingly moving into delivering office supplies, sporting goods, televisions, makeup and drug store essentials. Its latest move: Instacart announced a partnership with Walgreens Tuesday for same-day delivery on over-the-counter medications, beauty items and other drug store purchases. The partnership will start in Illinois and expand across