Newswatch: Wal-mart Profit Rises 5.7%; U.s. Sales Miss

Say your nephew needs a Christmas present and you vaguely know what he’s into these days. A new Gift Finder feature on the Best Buy app lets users ask questions like, “What can I get for a 10-year-old who loves Minecraft?” The artificial intelligence-powered chatbot responds with a list of products like the latest versions of the game, Minecraft Legos and in-game currency. And just like that, you’re still his favorite aunt or uncle. Best Buy is one of several retailers touting new generative AI capabilities for the holiday season and year-round shopping, a critical tactic for staying relevant and making shopping hassle-free.

While the Blackhawks, Bulls and the rest of the programming on the new Chicago Sports Network remains blacked out on Comcast, the cable giant is raising the monthly fee it charges subscribers to access its diminished local sports offerings. The 5.5% increase, which took effect Wednesday, bumps up the regional sports network fee to $20.25 per month for Comcast subscribers in Chicago and the suburbs.

The United Auto Workers have reached an agreement with Rivian Automotive Inc. that would make it easier to unionize the company’s workforce — contingent on the electric-vehicle maker reaching profitability. Under Rivian and the UAW’s confidential pact, the automaker would adopt a neutral stance toward efforts to organize workers at the Normal, Illinois, factory where its vehicles are made, according to people familiar with the matter.

Illinois gained nearly 68,000 people from 2023 to 2024, reversing a recent trend of population losses, the U. S. Census Bureau reported Thursday. Much of the increase was due to an influx of migrants, a trend that played out across the country. The increase of 67,899, or 0.5%, was small and paled in comparison to the growth of 563,000 in Texas, but the numeric growth was the most in the Midwest. Illinois had 12,710,158 residents as of July 1, 2024, the census estimated, ranking sixth among states nationally, still down by about 112,000 from 2020. Nationwide, the population grew by nearly 1.0%, surpassing 340 million.

When the impossibly punctuated S. T. A. L. K. E. R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl released on November 20, after many delays (that included the Russian invasion of the developer's native Ukraine), it seemed like it could have used even more delays. Stalker 2 had big performance issues and game-breaking bugs, along with balance and difficulty spike issues.

The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily banned drones over parts of New Jersey yesterday and said "the United States government may use deadly force against" airborne aircraft "if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat." The FAA issued 22 orders imposing "temporary flight restrictions for special security reasons" until January 17, 2025.