PHILADELPHIA -- Kelly Cook got married in a $19 dress from a Macy’s clearance rack.

She and her husband, Damon, had $100 in their checking account at the time, she said. There was no theme, website, or videographer, just 50 people gathered in a scorching-hot Houston backyard.

To Cook, she said, “it was the most perfect wedding ever.”

...Read more

MIAMI — The possibility that Cubans in South Florida and elsewhere outside the island might soon be able to invest in and own businesses in Cuba may amount to little more than an invitation and a fantasy.

Standing in the way of any investments and businesses that Cuban exiles may want to start on the island, experts say, are U.S. government ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As big malls and department stores close, bargain chains like Ross Dress for Less are rolling out new stores.

Economic anxiety and inflation are leading shoppers to spend less and search for savings. In this bombed-out retail landscape, some chains are thriving and opening new outlets.

At a new Ross in Alhambra, Liz Lopez was ...Read more

It's one of the truly seminal events of the computer age.

In December 1979, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs led a delegation of his engineers into Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, the legendary PARC, for a demonstration of PARC's most closely held inventions.

The research lab was already known to Silicon Valley cognoscenti for having invented a ...Read more

Jurors in New Mexico leapfrogged their California peers Tuesday, handing down a $375 million verdict against Meta for endangering children while a similar lawsuit remains pending in Los Angeles County.

The jury in Santa Fe came back with a decision in just hours while the L.A. panel slogged through its eighth day of deliberations over charges ...Read more

OpenAI plans to shut down its Sora text-to-video tool, a stunning move that comes three months after Walt Disney Co. pledged to invest $1 billion in the artificial intelligence company and allow the use of dozens of beloved characters.

The San Francisco-based company did not disclose why it was shutting down the tool or the timeline for its ...Read more

Democratic lawmakers are demanding scrutiny into Paramount Skydance's financial backers amid rising concerns about potential foreign influence of U.S. media properties.

In a letter this week to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, seven U.S. senators criticized Carr's suggestion that Paramount's $111 billion bid for Warner ...Read more

DETROIT -- Robot maker Fanuc America will expand its Michigan footprint with a $90 million investment to buy property and build an 840,000-square-foot facility in Pontiac that the company says will will be used for engineering and advanced manufacturing purposes.

The Rochester Hills-based subsidiary of Japanese robotics and automation giant ...Read more

Epic Games, the developer of the popular video game “Fortnite,” is laying off more than 1,000 employees and cutting $500 million in costs.

Chief Executive Tim Sweeney announced the cuts Tuesday morning in a message to employees. He said it has nothing to do with AI and instead pointed to what he said was a lack of “Fortnite” engagement ...Read more

RALEIGH, N.C. — Cary, North Carolina, video game developer Epic Games announced Tuesday it will lay off 1,000 workers as the company cited falling player interest in its hit Fortnite franchise.

This is Epic’s second mass jobs cut in the past three years. In September 2023, the company laid off 830 employees companywide, including 170 in the...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- In California, attorney-client privilege ensures that communication between an individual and their lawyer remains confidential. California labor groups are hoping 2026 will be the year that a similar, albeit lesser, privilege is extended to union representatives and their members.

A bill authored by Assemblymember Patrick...Read more

The world economy’s first signs of a synchronized shock emerged in business surveys revealing how the Iran war’s fallout is crippling growth momentum and stoking prices.

Multiple purchasing manager indexes compiled by S&P Global for March showed declines. Among the releases on Tuesday, composite measures for the U.S. and the euro zone were ...Read more

Jeff Bezos is trying to leapfrog into the artificial intelligence race with a $100 billion fund to acquire manufacturers and bring more AI superpowers to factory floors.

The Amazon founder has reportedly traveled to the Middle East and elsewhere to meet with potential investors for the massive fund. If he succeeds, it would be one of the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Bay Area-based robotaxi company Zoox is trying to get ahead of the competition with a significant expansion in San Francisco and Las Vegas and plans to launch in Austin, Texas, and Miami.

Zoox will quadruple its service area in San Francisco starting this spring, expanding rides to the eastern half of the city, including the...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Are you waiting longer for the rideshare driver to show up? Or for that burger and fries to be delivered to your door? Does it all cost more?

Here’s part of the reason: stricter immigration enforcement. And not just the arrest and deportation of workers who lack official permission to be in the country, but the fear that ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — The health care industry accounted for more than 70% of new jobs in the Philadelphia area over the past decade, nearly double the growth rate for health care nationally, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

The region added approximately 184,000 jobs since 2015. More than 132,000 were in health care, with home ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- So Good So You, the fast-growing Minnesota company that makes wellness shots available nationwide, announced Tuesday that it sold to a private equity firm.

So Good So You didn’t disclose the terms of the Bansk Group’s majority-stake acquisition. But the leader of a local food startup incubator characterized it as likely one ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The developers of One Beverly Hills have secured $4.3 billion in financing to complete the project, another milestone for one of the largest real estate projects underway in the country.

Work on the high-end residential and hotel complex, which will include the tallest buildings in Beverly Hills, began in 2024 and went vertical ...Read more

Artificial intelligence isn’t just being blamed for killing jobs; it’s exposing the fundamental flaw in one of hiring’s oldest tools: the résumé.

Thanks to AI, any applicant can churn out a polished, professional-looking version with a few basic prompts — regardless of their qualifications. Frustrated companies have responded in kind ...Read more