Jul 10, 2023 By Ap 7 min read

Reluctant Twitter users, influencers and others are flocking to Meta’s new Threads app

NEW YORK (AP) — Celebrities, lawmakers, brands and everyday social media users are flocking to Meta’s freshly minted app Threads to connect with their followers, including many Twitter refugees tired of the drama surrounding Elon Musk’s raucous oversight of that platform since acquiring it last year. Instagram head Adam Mosseri said in a Threads post on Monday morning that in the five days since its launch, 100 million people have signed up for the app. But will they stay? One expert says it’s too early to know how successful Threads will be. He further questions whether the rapid growth of Threads is even a good thing and that some other successful platforms began with a focused approach and expanded more gradually.

Los Angeles Times owners sell San Diego Union-Tribune to publishing powerhouse

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The owner of the Los Angeles Times has sold the San Diego Union-Tribune to MediaNews Group. The move was announced Monday and comes less than a week after the LA Times announced was cutting 74 newsroom jobs to deal with financial difficulties. The price of the sale hasn’t been disclosed. Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong bought both papers from Chicago-based Tribune Publishing in 2018 for $500 million. The new owners control hundreds of daily and weekly publications around the country, including the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News and many other Southern California papers. Staff at the San Diego paper are being offered buyouts, and more layoffs may come.

The New York Times disbands sports department and will rely on coverage from The Athletic

The New York Times is getting rid of its sports department and will instead rely on sports coverage from its website The Athletic going forward. The move impacts more than 35 people in the sports department, according to a report on the company’s website. Journalists on the sports desk will move to other roles in The New York Times newsroom. There are no plans for layoffs. The New York Times Co. announced early last year that it was buying The Athletic as part of a strategy to expand its audience of paying subscribers at a time when the newspaper print ads business continues to fade.

Europe signs off on a new privacy pact that allows people’s data to keep flowing to US

LONDON (AP) — The European Union has signed off on a new agreement over the privacy of people’s personal information that gets pinged across the Atlantic, aiming to ease concerns about electronic spying by American intelligence agencies. The EU’s executive commission on Monday deemed the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework to have an adequate level of protection for personal data. That means it’s comparable to the 27-nation’s own stringent data protection standards, so companies can use it to move information from Europe to the United States without adding extra security. The agreement comes after two earlier data transfer agreements were tossed. The European privacy campaigner who triggered the legal challenges, however, vowed to challenge it to the EU’s top court.

Stock market today: Wall Street ticks higher ahead of updates on inflation, profits

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks ticked higher on Wall Street ahead of a week with updates on where inflation and corporate profits are heading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Monday, coming off just its second losing week in the last eight. The Dow added 209 points, or 0.6%, and the Nasdaq rose 0.2%. This week will offer the latest monthly update on inflation, and Wall Street’s hope is that a continued slowdown will convince the Federal Reserve to soon stop hiking interest rates. Toward the end of the week, companies will also start telling investors how much profit they made during the spring.

James Lewis, the suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed 7 in the Chicago area, has died

Police say the suspect in the 1982 Tylenol poisonings that killed seven people in the Chicago area and triggered a nationwide scare has died. Police in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said Monday that officers, firefighters and EMTs responded to a report of an unresponsive person at about 4 p.m. Sunday. They found James Lewis dead in his home in the city. Police say he was 76. Police say the death is not considered suspicious. No one was ever charged in the deaths of seven people who took drugs laced with cyanide. But Lewis served more than 12 years in prison for sending an extortion note to Johnson & Johnson, demanding $1 million to “stop the killing.”

Yemen’s rivals are not only clashing on the ground but battling economically for revenue from ports

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A U.N. envoy says sporadic armed clashes between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and government forces are straining peace efforts, and the rivals are now also battling over revenue from ports, trade, banking and natural resources. The U.N. special representative for Yemen told the U.N. Security Council on Monday that the fight over economic wealth “has become inseparable from the political and military conflict.” Hans Grundberg says that fighting has decreased in Yemen markedly since an April 2022 truce, but that “continued sparks of violence” and threats to return to large-scale fighting have increased fear and tensions. He says that the “the situation on the ground remains fragile.”

Yellen says Washington might ‘respond to unintended consequences’ for China due to tech export curbs

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says Washington will listen to Chinese complaints about security-related curbs on U.S. technology exports and might “respond to unintended consequences” as she ended a visit to Beijing aimed at reviving strained relations. Yellen defended “targeted measures” on trade on Sunday that China’s leaders complain are aimed at hurting its fledgling tech industries. Yellen said the Biden administration wants to “avoid unnecessary repercussions” but gave no indication of possible changes. Relations are at their lowest level in decades due to disputes about technology, security and other irritants. A key Chinese complaint is limits on access to processor chips and other U.S. technology.

Y2K fashion has taken over. And Gen Z is loving it

NEW YORK (AP) — What comes to mind when you hear the phrase Y2K? Here’s a hint: It’s no longer about a computer glitch that could have made the world go haywire at the end of 1999. Today Y2K is all about fashion, with people trading in their skinny jeans for cargo pants. Retailers say Gen Z is fueling the market for the return of fashion choices from the early 2000s. And there are no signs of it letting up. The latest shift shows how Gen Z adapts to trends on social media, particularly TikTok. That leaves retailers like Walmart hurrying to catch up.

The FDA is being asked to look into Logan Paul’s energy drink, which has the caffeine of 6 Coke cans

NEW YORK (AP) — An influencer-backed energy drink that has earned viral popularity among children is facing scrutiny from lawmakers and health experts over its potentially dangerous levels of caffeine. Senator Chuck Schumer on Sunday called on the Food and Drug Administration to investigate PRIME. The beverage brand was launched last year by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI and has become something of an obsession among the influencers’ legions of young followers. Schumer said the drink contains nearly twice as much caffeine as Red Bull and poses a health risk to children. Representatives for PRIME have said the drinks are clearly marked as not recommended for minors. They did not immediately respond to a request for comment.