U.S. charges Chinese energy company with industrial espionage

By Ben Lefebvre 10/29/2020 11:59 AM EDT The Justice Department has charged a Chinese-owned oil and gas parts manufacturer with industrial espionage and stealing oil field technology trade secrets from a U.S. company. Details: A grand jury indictment charged Jason Gao, his company Jason Energy Technologies and its U.S.- based affiliates, with conspiracy, theft of […]

The next economic crisis: Empty retail space

By Katy O’Donnell 10/16/2020 08:01 PM EDT WASHINGTON — Commercial real estate is in trouble, and turbulence in the $15 trillion market is threatening to bleed over into the broader financial system just as the U.S. struggles to emerge from a recession. The longer the pandemic paralyzes hotels, retailers and office buildings, the more difficult […]

The race to be Biden’s secretary of State is already underway

By Nahal Toosi 10/18/2020 07:51 PM EDT The race to serve as Joe Biden’s secretary of State has already begun, and the signs are surprisingly obvious if you know where to look. Did you see the George Will column about why Biden should pick Chris Coons? Or the Jewish Insider story filled with quotes about how great the Delaware senator […]

Canada to keep border with U.S. shuttered to nonessential travel until at least Nov. 21

By Andy Blatchford 10/19/2020 10:53 AM EDT OTTAWA — Canada is keeping its land border with the United States closed to nonessential travel for another month as the Trudeau government expresses concerns about coronavirus caseloads south of the frontier. Public Safety Minister Bill Blair announced Monday that Canada will extend the border restrictions until Nov. […]

What happened when machines took over social media

By Mark Scott , Laura Kayali10/19/2020 01:07 PM EDTLONDON — Nobody appreciated the content moderators until they were gone. As the coronavirus pandemic swept the world, social media giants like Facebook, Google and Twitter did what other companies did. They sent workers home — including the tens of thousands of people tasked with sifting through […]

Inside Amazon’s global worker movement

By Melissa Heikkilä 10/19/2020 12:51 PM EDT LILLE, France — When Amazon workers installed a mock guillotine in front of Jeff Bezos’ home in Washington, D.C., last summer, they gave the world’s richest man a chilling show of anger. But the real challenge to Amazon management isn’t from publicity stunts. It’s coming from a new, […]

Trump administration announces vaccine deal for long-term care facilities

By Adam Cancryn , David Lim10/16/2020 12:30 PM EDT Updated: 10/16/2020 02:32 PM EDT The Trump administration announced Friday a deal with CVS and Walgreens to administer a future coronavirus vaccine to seniors and staff in long-term care facilities with no out-of-pocket cost. President Donald Trump — who polls show is trailing Joe Biden among […]

Federal judge strikes down USDA rule to impose stricter SNAP work requirements

By Helena Bottemiller Evich 10/19/2020 12:05 PM EDT A federal judge struck down a controversial Trump administration rule that would have mandated tougher work requirements on millions of able-bodied adults without dependents who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The effort was part of President Donald Trump’s broader bid to shrink safety net programs. The ruling […]

Which states had the best pandemic response?

By Tucker Doherty , Victoria Guida , Bianca Quilantan , Gabrielle Wanneh 10/13/2020 08:47 PM EDT Updated: 10/15/2020 04:08 PM EDT Vermont locked itself down early and reopened gradually. Washington state paid workers who couldn’t do their jobs while quarantined. And Louisiana zeroed in on students who were most at-risk of falling behind and prioritized […]

Sexual violence reports rise drastically at schools, Education Department data shows

By Michael Stratford , Juan Perez Jr. 10/15/2020 02:09 PM EDT The nation’s public elementary and secondary schools reported a more than 50 percent increase in reports of sexual violence during the 2017-18 school year, according to new federal civil rights data the Education Department released Thursday. Schools reported nearly 15,000 total incidents of sexual […]