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Disneyland Resort Cast Members, Courtney Griffith, left, hugs Angela Nichols after a news conference in Anaheim, Calif., Wednesday, April 17, 2024. Workers who help bring Disneyland's beloved characters to life said Wednesday they collected enough signatures to support their push for a union. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

California Disney characters are unionizing decades after Florida peers. Hollywood plays a role

The character performers at Disneyland in California have said they filed a petition for union recognition.
 
This artist's rendering provided by the government of Dubai shows plans for Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai International Airport, the world's busiest for international travel, will move its operations to the city-state's second, sprawling airfield in its southern desert reaches "within the next 10 years" in a project worth nearly $35 billion, its ruler said Sunday, April 28, 2024. (Dubai government via AP)

Dubai plans to move its busy international airport to a $35 billion new facility within 10 years

 
Ron Waddell, Founder and Executive Director of Legendary Legacies, second from left, poses with men benefitting from his nonprofit organization, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Worcester, Mass. Waddell credits Blue Cross Blue Shield volunteers for truly investing in their employee service opportunities, which are increasing across the corporate realm. From left are Antoine Williams, Waddell, Jonathan Maldonado and Gary Goyette. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Seeking engagement and purpose, corporate employees turn to workplace volunteering

 
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, visiting Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, left, meets with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Musk met with a top government leader in the Chinese capital Sunday, just as the nation's carmakers are showing off their latest electric vehicle models at the Beijing auto show. (Wang Ye/Xinhua via AP)

Tesla founder Musk visits China as competitors show off new electric vehicles at Beijing auto show

 
FILE - A TikTok sign is displayed on their building in Culver City, Calif., March 11, 2024. If it feels like TikTok has been around forever, that's probably because it has, at least if you're measuring via internet time. What's now in question is whether it will be around much longer — and if so, in what form. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

How TikTok grew from a fun app for teens into a potential national security threat

 

Topics

Financial Markets

FILE - Delegates meet at the Exxon Mobil booth during the LNG2023 conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. Exxon Mobil reports their earnings Friday, April 26, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Exxon Mobil profit declines in 1st quarter as natural gas prices fall

 

  1. Stock market today: Alphabet and Microsoft help Wall Street clinch its best week in nearly 6 months

  2. Trading Trump: Truth Social’s first month of trading has sent investors on a ride

  3. Stock market today: Asian benchmarks mostly climb despite worries about US economy

Personal Finance

FILE - The Internal Revenue Service 1040 tax form for 2022 is seen on April 17, 2023. The IRS said Friday, April 26, 2024, more than 140,000 taxpayers filed their taxes through its new direct file pilot program. It says the program's users claimed more than $90 million in refunds, saving roughly $5.6 million in fees they would have spent with commercial tax preparation companies. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick, File)

140,000 people did their taxes with the free IRS direct file pilot. But program’s future is unclear

 

  1. How US changes to ‘noncompete’ agreements and overtime pay could affect workers

  2. Airlines will now be required to give automatic cash refunds for canceled and delayed flights

  3. These apps allow workers to get paid between paychecks. Experts say there are steep costs

Economy

Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, center, attends the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the community branch opening in the Bronx borough of New York, on Friday, April 26, 2024. Dimon says he’s hopeful the Federal Reserve can bring down inflation without causing a recession but wouldn’t rule out more troubling possibilities, such as stagflation. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

JPMorgan’s Dimon hopes for soft landing for US economy but says stagflation is a possible scenario

 

  1. US growth slowed sharply last quarter to 1.6% pace, reflecting an economy pressured by high rates

  2. IMF’s Georgieva says there’s ‘plenty to worry about’ despite recovery for many economies

  3. IMF: Outlook for world economy is brighter, though still modest by historical standards

Tech

Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai speaks at the Business, Government and Society Forum at Stanford University in Stanford, Calif., Wednesday, April 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Tech CEOs Altman, Nadella, Pichai and others join government AI safety board led by DHS’ Mayorkas

 

  1. Online retailer Shein is latest to face strict European Union digital regulations

  2. These are the countries where TikTok is already banned

  3. Microsoft quarterly profit rises 20% as tech giant pushes to get customers using AI products

More news

Ron Waddell, Founder and Executive Director of Legendary Legacies, right, talks with Gary Goyette at the nonprofit organization, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Worcester, Mass. Waddell credits Blue Cross Blue Shield volunteers for truly investing in their employee service opportunities, which are increasing across the corporate realm. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

How to design a volunteering program in your workplace

More workplaces are bolstering their volunteer programs, especially as employee demands grow for socially responsible employers and engagement.
 

Nepal hosts an investment summit in hopes of attracting foreign money for hydropower projects

Nepal is hosting an investment summit, hoping to attract much-needed foreign investment. It particularly wants to develop hydropower projects to produce more electricity that it can sell to neighboring countries.
 
Farmers sort out climate-smart beans in Machakos, Kenya, Monday, March 18, 2024. From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking both to the past and future to respond to climate change. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

African farmers look to the past and the future to address climate change

From ancient fertilizer methods in Zimbabwe to new greenhouse technology in Somalia, farmers across the heavily agriculture-reliant African continent are looking both to the past and future to respond to climate change.
 
FILE - In this Feb. 2, 2017 file photo the logo of Mercedes is photographed in Stuttgart, Germany. The United Auto Workers union announced it reached a last-minute tentative agreement with truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck on Friday, April 26, 2024, averting a potential strike of more than 7,000 workers. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader,File)

United Auto Workers reaches deal with Daimler Truck, averting potential strike in North Carolina

The United Auto Workers union announced it reached a last-minute tentative agreement with truck and bus manufacturer Daimler Truck on Friday evening, averting a potential strike of more than 7,000 workers.
 
FILE - The TikTok logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen, Oct. 14, 2022, in Boston. TikTok is gearing up for a legal fight against a U.S. law that would force the social media platform to break ties with its China-based parent company or face a ban. A battle in the courts will almost certainly be backed by Chinese authorities as the bitter U.S.-China rivalry threatens the future of a wildly popular way for young Americans to connect online. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)

Instagram and YouTube could be the biggest winners of a TikTok ban, but smaller rivals could rise too

While a bill to ban TikTok if it doesn’t change owners has received President Joe Biden’s signature, it could still be years before the popular video-sharing app is actually blocked from U.S. app stores — if it is blocked at all.
 
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and US ambassador to China Nicholas Burns look at a record during a visit to Li-Pi record store in Beijing, China, Friday, April 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

The US and China talk past each other on most issues, but at least they’re still talking

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrapped up his just-concluded latest visit to China with a stop at a Beijing record store where he bought albums by Taylor Swift and Chinese rocker Dou Wei in a symbolic nod to cross-cultural exchanges and understanding he had been promoting for three days.
 
People stand in line outside a bank hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, in Havana, Cuba, Monday, April 22, 2024. An increasing number of Cubans are having to grapple with the country's shortage of cash. (AP Photo/Ariel Ley)

Long lines form and frustration grows as Cuba runs short of cash

Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM. But the cash ran out when it was almost his turn.
 
An image depicting tennis legend Billie Jean King is displayed at The Sports Bra sports bar on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

Oregon’s Sports Bra, a pub for women’s sports fans, plans national expansion as interest booms

An Oregon sports bar focusing on and showing only women’s athletics has plans to expand across the country through a franchise model.
 

Oregon university pauses gifts and grants from Boeing in response to student and faculty demands

An Oregon university says it is pausing seeking or accepting further gifts or grants from Boeing. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports Portland State University acted after students and faculty demanded that the school sever ties with the company because of its weapons manufacturing divisions and its
 
FILE - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seal is shown outside its headquarters, March 14, 2023, in Washington. Regulators have closed Republic First Bank, a regional lender operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. The FDIC said Friday, April 26, 2024, it had seized the Philadelphia-based bank, which had roughly $6 billion in assets and $4 billion in deposits as of Jan. 31. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)

Regulators close Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank, first US bank failure this year

Regulators have closed Republic First Bank, a regional lender operating in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
 
FILE - A man waits for a Delta Air Lines flight at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, Jan. 7, 2022. An emergency slide fell off a Delta plane that was taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, Friday, April 26, 2024. The pilots returned to the airport and landed safely. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)

An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York

An emergency slide fell off a Delta plane that was taking off from New York, and pilots returned to the airport and landed safely.
 
Mississippi Senate Medicaid Committee Chairman Sen. Kevin Blackwell, R-Southaven, right, discusses the cost of Medicaid expansion at a public legislative conference committee meeting held at the State Capitol, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

Mississippi legislative leaders swap proposals on possible Medicaid expansion

Mississippi Senate leaders are saying for the first time that they are willing to expand Medicaid to the full level allowed under a federal law signed 14 years ago by then-President Barack Obama.
 

Solar panel plant coming to eastern North Carolina with 900 jobs

A Vietnamese-based company will build its first North American solar panel manufacturing plant in eastern North Carolina, creating over 900 jobs.
 

How major US stock indexes fared Friday, 4/26/2024

Alphabet and Microsoft led the U.S. stock market to its first winning week in the last four and its biggest weekly gain since November. The S&P 500 rose 1% Friday.
 
FILE - Southwest Airlines plane prepares to land at Midway International Airport, Feb. 12, 2023, in Chicago. Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, ratified a contract that includes pay raises totaling more than 33% over four years, as airline workers continue to benefit from the industry's recovery since the pandemic. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

Southwest Airlines is considering changes to its quirky boarding and seating practices

Get ready for changes in boarding and seating at Southwest Airlines. The airline says it’s studying possible changes as it looks for new sources of revenue.
 
Acting United States Secretary of Labor Julie Su, left, speaks next to Teresa Romero, president of United Farm Workers, after a news conference at Balletto Vineyards in Santa Rosa, Calif., Friday, April 26, 2024. Temporary farmworkers workers are getting more legal protections against employer retaliation, unsafe working conditions, illegal recruitment and other abuses. The rule announced Friday by the Biden administration aims to bolster support workers on H-2A visas. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Temporary farmworkers get more protections against retaliation and other abuses under new rule

Temporary farmworkers are getting more legal protections against employer retaliation, unsafe working conditions, illegal recruitment and other abuses.
 
FILE -Shoppers leave a Williams-Sonoma store in New York, Jan. 3, 2008. Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay more than $3.17 million penalty for violating a “Made in USA” order from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan. file)

Williams-Sonoma must pay almost $3.2 million for violating FTC’s ‘Made in USA’ order

Home products retailer Williams-Sonoma will have to pay almost $3.2 million penalty for violating a Federal Trade Commission “Made in USA” order.
 
FILE – Republican Assemblymember Vince Fong speaks on the floor of the California Assembly on Thursday, April 11, 2024. A bill Fong wrote to ban the use of nondisclosure agreements when negotiating legislation failed to pass a legislative committee on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

A California bill aiming to ban confidentiality agreements when negotiating legislation fails

A bill to ban the use of confidentiality agreements when negotiating potential laws in California has failed to pass.
 

Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities

Benchmark U.S. crude oil for June delivery rose 28 cents to $83.85 per barrel Friday. Brent crude for June delivery rose 49 cents to $89.50 per barrel.
 
FILE - Menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products are displayed at a store in San Francisco on May 17, 2018. For the second time in recent months, President Joe Biden's administration has delayed a plan to ban menthol cigarettes, a decision that is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

Biden officials indefinitely postpone ban on menthol cigarettes amid election-year pushback

President Joe Biden’s administration is again delaying a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes. Anti-smoking advocates are upset about the delay, but the decision could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections.