Stocks Inch Higher But Worries About Europe Linger

TOKYO — Nippon Steel was standing firm on its proposed $15 billion acquisition of U. S. Steel, Chief Executive Eiji Hashimoto said Tuesday after President Joe Biden’s blocked the top Japanese steelmaker’s move. “There is no reason or need to give up,” he told reporters at company headquarters in Tokyo. “We are convinced it’s clearly beneficial for both nations.” While acknowledging the effort may take time, he stressed the companies’ latest legal action in the U.

Apple plans to release a software update that is meant to help users understand better that its notification summaries are AI-generated and may contain errors, according to a recent BBC news story. The update is a response to reports that the summaries gave users misleading information about world events. For example, one false summary suggested to at least one user that Luigi Mangione, the alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, had committed suicide.

Federal toxicology researchers on Monday finally published a long-controversial analysis that claims to find a link between high levels of fluoride exposure and slightly lower IQs in children living in areas outside the US, mostly in China and India. As expected, it immediately drew yet more controversy. The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, is a meta-analysis, a type of study that combines data from many different studies—in this case, mostly low-quality studies—to come up with new results.

The CTA has stopped using its main account on the social media site X and a second account devoted to service alerts such as train delays and disruptions, a move that some social media users quickly blasted as a blow to transparency. The agency said it made the decision to suspend use of the two accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter, because changes to the site made the alerts less useful in real time.

Four years after launching a push for more diversity in its ranks, Chicago-based McDonald’s is ending some of its diversity practices, citing a U. S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions. McDonald’s is the latest big company to shift its tactics in the wake of the 2023 ruling and a conservative backlash against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Walmart, John Deere, Harley-Davidson and others rolled back their DEI initiatives last year. McDonald’s said Monday it will retire specific goals for achieving diversity at senior leadership levels.

The man who allegedly drove a truck into a crowd of people in New Orleans on New Year’s Day, killing 14, had previously scouted the French Quarter and recorded video with his Meta smart glasses, the FBI said. On Oct. 31, Shamsud-Din Jabbar recorded video with the glasses as he cycled through the French Quarter and plotted the attack, said Lyonel Myrthil, the FBI special agent in charge of the New Orleans field office.