Costco to not sell abortion pill at its pharmacy locations, Bloomberg News reports
The decision follows a group of faith-based activists urging the retailer to avoid selling the drug, according to the report.
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BreakingNews.ie
28 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Air Canada cancels flights before strike that could impact hundreds of thousands
Air Canada started cancelling flights ahead of a possible work stoppage by flight attendants that could impact hundreds of thousands of travellers. A complete shutdown of the country's largest airline threatens to impact about 130,000 people a day. Advertisement The union representing around 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants issued a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday. Air Canada executives are interrupted by Air Canada flight attendants during a news conference (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) In response, the airline issued a lockout notice. Mark Nasr, chief operations officer for Air Canada, said the airline has begun a gradual suspension of Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge operations. 'All flights will be paused by Saturday early morning,' he said. Advertisement Mr Nasr said this approach will help facilitate an orderly restart 'which under the best circumstances will take a full week to complete'. He said a first set of cancellations involving several dozen flights will impact long-haul overseas flights that were due to depart on Thursday night. 'By tomorrow evening we expect to have cancelled flights affecting over 100,000 customers,' Mr Nasr said. Air Canada executives leave after they are interrupted by Air Canada flight attendants during a press conference (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) 'By the time we get to 1am on Saturday morning we will be completely grounded.' Advertisement He said a grounding will affect 25,000 Canadians a day abroad who may become stranded. They expect 500 flights to be cancelled by the end of Friday. He said customers whose flights are cancelled will be eligible for a full refund, and it has also made arrangements with other Canadian and foreign carriers to provide alternative travel options 'to the extent possible'. Arielle Meloul-Wechsler, head of human resources for Air Canada, said their latest offer includes a 38% increase in total compensation including benefits and pensions over four years. Advertisement Air Canada executives are interrupted by Air Canada flight attendants during a press conference (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) The union has said its main sticking points revolve around what it calls flight attendants' 'poverty wages' and unpaid labour when planes are not in the air. 'Despite our best efforts, Air Canada refused to address our core issues,' the union said in a bargaining update posted online. The union rejected a proposal from the airline to enter a binding arbitration process, saying it prefers to negotiate a deal that its members can then vote on. Ms Meloul-Wechsler said they have hit an impasse but are still available for talks and consensual arbitration. Advertisement She said that if a deal is not reached, the resulting 'very serious disruptions' would prompt the company to consider asking for government intervention. Some flight attendants at the airline's news conference on Thursday held up signs that read 'Unpaid work won't fly' and 'Poverty wages = UnCanadian'.
The Guardian
28 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Conservatives join backlash over Trump pick for head of labor data stats: ‘Not a credible source of information'
Donald Trump fired Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) commissioner Erika McEntarfer, a veteran economist with decades of experience inside the federal government, after claiming without evidence that official jobs data had been 'rigged' against him. In her place, the US president has lined up an ardent supporter of his agenda accused of regularly misrepresenting and exaggerating statistics, who previously urged Trump's officials to 'take a chainsaw' to the agency he has been tapped to oversee. EJ Antoni, an economist at the Heritage Foundation and contributor to Project 2025, the rightwing blueprint drawn up ahead of Trump's re-election, has been nominated by the president to take charge of US government labor statistics. He did not respond to a request for comment. McEntarfer's abrupt dismissal had already raised fears in Washington, on Wall Street and far beyond about the integrity of official US government data. Plans to replace her with Antoni – confirmed hours after he had called on the BLS to halt the publication of monthly jobs data – have only heightened concern among leading economists. 'From selectively presenting data from particularly convenient dates to misrepresenting axes to exaggerate magnitudes, he has used all the tricks in the book and shown time and again that he is not a credible source of information,' Dave Hebert, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, a conservative thinktank, told the Guardian. 'Worse, he has repeatedly shown that he fundamentally misunderstands what some of the data the BLS puts out actually means. 'It's difficult to imagine someone effectively leading a vital organization like the BLS who cannot correctly define the data they're putting out.' After July's lackluster jobs report, there have been further signs of economic strain under Trump. On Thursday, the producer price index – which measures wholesale inflation – was revealed to have risen 0.9% in July, markedly more than expected, and the biggest monthly increase in three years. But data released under Antoni – who requires confirmation by the US Senate – won't be believed, according to Hebert. 'I have no problem with someone who supports President Trump, but we cannot afford such a partisan person who has neither the credibility nor the ability to generate believable data,' he added. Antoni was pictured in a crowd of Trump supporters outside the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection in 2021. The White House told NBC News he was just a bystander, in town for meetings. He is a prolific user of social media, and has frequently appeared on Fox News, Newsmax and other conservative outlets to promote Trump's policies and arguments. In July 2024, Antoni quoted a post on X, formerly Twitter, which seemingly claimed the 2020 election was stolen. He has also derided the Federal Reserve; called social security, Medicare and Medicaid 'Ponzi schemes'; and frequently cast aspersions on the BLS, which he is now set to lead, joking that the 'L' is 'silent'. Back in March, he called 10,000 federal government job losses 'a fabulous start'. Responding to a September 2023 article by ZeroHedge, a libertarian and conspiracy theory website, about US men going abroad to find wives, Antoni wrote in a post: 'Shortages in domestic markets always encourage imports. The laws of Supply and Demand will not be conned, not in any aspect of life.' In recent days, Antoni has also stirred controversy online after viewers noticed a painting of a Nazi battleship featured in some of his broadcast interviews. In a 2023 podcast interview with TFTC, Antoni confirmed the painting to be the Bismarck, used by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine during the second world war. Upon being asked about the painting, he replied: 'The Bismarck, yep, in all his glory.' But it is Antoni's use of official data that has drawn the most ire among other economists, who have suggested he mischaracterized BLS data about multiple job holders and native-born and foreign-born workers. He has also tried to frame previous revisions by the bureau as part of a Democratic conspiracy under Biden. Elon Musk's 'department of government efficiency' 'needs to take a chainsaw to the BLS', Antoni wrote on X in November. Shortly before his nomination to lead the bureau this week, he told Fox News the monthly jobs report should be paused over claims its data is flawed. The White House has since claimed 'the plan' is to continue publishing the closely watched report. 'He's utterly unqualified and as partisan as it gets,' Stan Veuger, a senior fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told the Washington Post. Daniel Di Martino, a fellow at the conservative thinktank the Manhattan Institute, has previously criticized Antoni for claiming that unemployment rate had been 'artificially' reduced. 'This is one of the many elementary errors that show me Mr Antoni is unqualified for the labor market data collection and analysis role he was nominated to,' Di Martino wrote on social media this week. 'People will discuss credentials but what matters is whether you know what you're talking about.' Friends of BLS, a group co-chaired by William Beach, who served as BLS commissioner during Trump's first term, has urged the Senate to do its due diligence in assessing Antoni's suitability for the role. 'The unwarranted dismissal of Dr Erika McEntarfer, the 16th Commissioner of Labor Statistics, and the baseless characterization of BLS employment estimates as 'fake' and 'rigged' have undermined public trust in the Bureau's integrity and the usefulness of its statistics,' the group wrote. 'The next Commissioner must not only manage the difficult responsibilities inherent to the role, but also restore public trust, defend the agency against political interference, and accelerate critical modernization efforts across all programs.' The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Reuters
28 minutes ago
- Reuters
Cevian Capital raised share stake in UBS Group by 9.9% in Q2
NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Activist investor Cevian Capital raised its share stake in bank UBS (UBSG.S), opens new tab by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. Cevian ended June with 48.1 million shares worth $1.63 billion in its portfolio. The fund first disclosed a stake in the Swiss bank in December 2023, betting on a recovery of UBS shares following its takeover of Credit Suisse. At that time, Cevian managing partner Lars Forberg said the stock had the potential to roughly double its price to 50 francs. On Thursday, they were priced at 32 francs. (This story has been refiled to delete extraneous words from the headline)
