TikTok, WeChat to be banned from US app stores starting Sunday
Anatoliy Sizov/iStockBy WILLIAM MANSELL and CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News (NEW YORK) — Starting Sunday, downloads of the massively popular video app TikTok and the messaging app WeChat will be banned in the United States, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday morning.The department said in a statement that the move was necessary to “safeguard the…
Eleven state treasurers call on Gilead to reduce remdesivir pricing
Andrei Stanescu/iStockBy LUCIEN BRUGGEMAN, ABC News(NEW YORK) — As the U.S. approaches 200,000 coronavirus deaths, a coalition of 11 state treasurers is calling on drugmaker Gilead Sciences to reduce the price of remdesivir, its promising treatment for some patients of COVID-19.In a letter to the California-based drugmaker on Wednesday, the state treasurers, led by Pennsylvania’s…
860,000 Americans filed for jobless claims last week
courtneyk/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Some 860,000 Americans lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.The latest tally shows that new jobless claims have dipped significantly since peaking at 6.9 million in the last week of March. Still, it shatters the pre-pandemic weekly record set in 1982…
American Girl releases new ’80s-themed doll
American GirlBy JACQUELINE LAUREAN YATES, ABC News (NEW YORK) — American Girl is giving everyone a chance to channel the spirit of ’80s style with the brand’s latest doll launch.For the first time in the past three years, the toy company unveiled a new historical doll, “Courtney Moore,” on Tuesday.The brand’s latest doll grew up…
Kim Kardashian West to ‘freeze’ Instagram posting for one day to protest hate speech, disinformation
ABCBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(NEW YORK) — Kim Kardashian West is among the handful of celebrities participating in an Instagram “freeze” Wednesday in protest of hate speech and disinformation on the platform and its parent company, Facebook.The Stop Hate For Profit coalition, a group backed by the NAACP and other civil rights organizations that spearheaded…
United will use antimicrobial spraying robots on some aircraft
United AirlinesBy MINA KAJI, ABC News(NEW YORK) — United Airlines is turning to a 100-pound robot in its latest effort to reassure customers that flying during the COVID-19 pandemic is safe.United intends to use the robot, MicroSonic Solution’s NovaRover, during some of its aircraft’s “deepest cleanings” overnight at 10 U.S. airports.For months, airlines have turned…
New Saucony x prinkshop collaboration supports women running for office
Saucony x prinkshopBy ZOE MOORE, ABC News(NEW YORK) — Footwear maker Saucony has teamed up with social enterprise brand prinkshop for a collaboration all about empowering women.The “Women Running” collection from Saucony x prinkshop encourages equal representation in politics and sport.The full collection consists of a T-shirt, hat, tote and two styles of shoes available…
Minority homes bear financial strain amid COVID-19
Sergii Zyskо/iStockBy SASHA PEZENIK, ABC News(NEW YORK) — An unequal burden in America’s COVID-19 pandemic has been borne by those most vulnerable to the virus, and most at risk to its economic fallout. Latino, Black and Native American households across the country already weathering the brunt of converging crises — coronavirus, and systemic racial inequality…
House committee final report says Boeing, FAA failures to blame for deadly 737 MAX crashes
Wolterk/iStockBy AMANDA MAILE, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Paul Njoroge lost his entire family in March 2019, after Ethiopian Air Flight 302 crashed shortly after takeoff in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.”I stay up nights thinking of the horror they must have endured,” Njoroge told lawmakers in a hearing on the incident last summer.His mother-in-law, wife and three young…
bp and Microsoft join forces to advance sustainability goals
Blue Planet Studio/iStockBY: LEIGHTON SCHNEIDER, ABC NEWS (NEW YORK) — bp and Microsoft have joined forces to advance their sustainability goals. Both companies announced plans to achieve carbon emission reductions earlier this year. In January, Microsoft announced a goal to be carbon negative by 2030 and to remove all the carbon they have emitted since their founding…
TikTok, WeChat to be banned from US app stores starting Sunday
Anatoliy Sizov/iStockBy WILLIAM MANSELL and CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News (NEW YORK) — Starting Sunday, downloads of the massively popular video app TikTok and the messaging app WeChat will be banned in the United States, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Friday morning.The department said in a statement that the move was necessary to “safeguard the…
Eleven state treasurers call on Gilead to reduce remdesivir pricing
Andrei Stanescu/iStockBy LUCIEN BRUGGEMAN, ABC News(NEW YORK) — As the U.S. approaches 200,000 coronavirus deaths, a coalition of 11 state treasurers is calling on drugmaker Gilead Sciences to reduce the price of remdesivir, its promising treatment for some patients of COVID-19.In a letter to the California-based drugmaker on Wednesday, the state treasurers, led by Pennsylvania’s…
860,000 Americans filed for jobless claims last week
courtneyk/iStockBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Some 860,000 Americans lost their jobs and filed for unemployment insurance last week, the Labor Department said Thursday.The latest tally shows that new jobless claims have dipped significantly since peaking at 6.9 million in the last week of March. Still, it shatters the pre-pandemic weekly record set in 1982…
American Girl releases new ’80s-themed doll
American GirlBy JACQUELINE LAUREAN YATES, ABC News (NEW YORK) — American Girl is giving everyone a chance to channel the spirit of ’80s style with the brand’s latest doll launch.For the first time in the past three years, the toy company unveiled a new historical doll, “Courtney Moore,” on Tuesday.The brand’s latest doll grew up…
Kim Kardashian West to ‘freeze’ Instagram posting for one day to protest hate speech, disinformation
ABCBy CATHERINE THORBECKE, ABC News(NEW YORK) — Kim Kardashian West is among the handful of celebrities participating in an Instagram “freeze” Wednesday in protest of hate speech and disinformation on the platform and its parent company, Facebook.The Stop Hate For Profit coalition, a group backed by the NAACP and other civil rights organizations that spearheaded…