Nov. 8, 2010 at 1:19 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Airports,
Policy,
Updated
By Reuters
The Obama administration on Monday banned all cargo shipments to the United States from Somalia, expanding a ban imposed initially on shipments from Yemen in the wake of a recent foiled bomb plot.
Two weeks ago, authorities in Dubai and the United Kingdom intercepted two bombs hidden in toner cartridges destined for the United States from Yemen via FedEx and United Parcel Service after a tip from Saudi Arabia.
In addition to the expanded cargo ban, the Department of Homeland Security also prohibited toner and ink cartridges over 16 ounces from any U.S. passenger flights, domestic or international, bound for the United States. Get the full story »
By Reuters
Larry Ellison, Oracle Corp’s outspoken chief, charged that German arch-rival SAP AG stole billions of dollars of his company’s copyrighted software.
Ellison made the allegation as the the star witness in the U.S. software maker’s software-theft lawsuit, which is captivating Silicon Valley. Get the full story »
Nov. 8, 2010 at 11:49 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
M&A,
Packaged foods,
Updated
By Reuters
A deal whereby Sara Lee Corp sells its North American bakery business to Mexico’s Grupo Bimbofor $900 million to $1 billion could be announced this week, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 6:03 p.m.
Filed under:
Airlines,
Airplanes,
Manufacturing,
Updated
Boeing Co. on Friday said it still plans to deliver its first long-delayed 787 Dreamliner in the first quarter of 2011.
The statement followed a report in Aviation Week, citing people familiar with the situation, saying the world’s second-largest plane maker has told some customers they could face delays of as much as 10 months.
Shares of Boeing fell more than 2 percent in after-hours trading on Friday after a published report said the plane maker has told several early customers of the 787 Dreamliner of more delivery delays. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 2:49 p.m.
Filed under:
Media,
Politics,
TV,
Updated
By Associated Press
Keith Olbermann. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer, file)
MSNBC has suspended prime-time host Keith Olbermann indefinitely without pay for contributing to the campaigns of three Democratic candidates this election season.
Olbermann acknowledged to NBC that he donated $2,400 apiece to the campaigns of Kentucky Senate candidate Jack Conway and Arizona Reps. Raul Grivalva and Gabrielle Giffords.
NBC News prohibits its employees from working on, or donating to, political campaigns unless a special exception is granted by the news division president — effectively a ban. Olbermann’s bosses did not find out about the donations until after they were made. The website Politico first reported the donations. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 11:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Beverages,
Food,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
(Charles Osgood/Chicago Tribune)
Kraft is apparently steamed by Starbucks’ announcement that it plans to fire the company as its grocery store distributor.
On Thursday night, Kraft Foods Inc. said its agreement to supply packaged Starbucks coffee to grocery stores “is perpetual…if Starbucks decides to exit its relationship with Kraft Foods, the agreement requires Starbucks to pay Kraft Foods the fair market value of the business plus, in certain instances, a premium.”
Starbucks fired back today with a company statement saying, “We consider it unfortunate that Kraft has chosen to make public statements that we believe mischaracterize the nature of the agreement between our companies, including the term of the agreement.” The statement went on to note that the companies’ agreement contains a clause for the resolution of disputes. Both companies maintain that regardless of how their relationship is terminated, customers shouldn’t expect service interruptions.
Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 10:39 a.m.
Filed under:
Media,
TV,
Updated
By Steve Cavendish | AT&T’s U-verse service dropped Food Network, HGTV, Cooking Channel and other Scripps networks from its lineup Friday morning after the two sides could not reach a carriage agreement.
The channels were immediately replaced on thousands of U-verse customers’ receivers in the Chicago area.
Food Network and HGTV are among the most popular niche networks on cable, with their most popular shows reaching millions of viewers. Get the full story »
Nov. 5, 2010 at 10:01 a.m.
Filed under:
Energy,
Updated
By Chicago Breaking News
An electrical fire in a Commonwealth Edison vault shut down power to two office buildings for almost four hours.
Power was restored to the building at 150 North Wacker Drive at 8:18 a.m., and several minutes later to 110 North Wacker, but not before employers sent some workers home. Get the full story >>
Nov. 4, 2010 at 5:26 p.m.
Filed under:
Earnings,
Food,
M&A,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
Northfield-based Kraft reported strong earnings of 47 cents per share on Thursday afternoon. But the company’s sales, up 26.6 percent to $11.9 billion, just missed expectations of $12 billion. Analysts had expected earnings of 46 cents per share.
Earnings for the world’s second-largest food company were lower than the year-ago period, of 55 cents, because of increased advertising investment, higher taxes, and commodity cost increases.
“We had another good quarter, and we’re executing well,” Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld said in a statement. “The Cadbury integration has proceeded smoothly and quickly, and we’re already benefiting from significant cost synergies. I remain confident that we will achieve our goals for 2010 and accelerate our growth in 2011.” Get the full story »
By Bruce Japsen
The chief executive officer of the American Medical Association will step down when his contract expires next June as the Chicago-based national doctor group embarks on an uncertain political environment for physicians under the health care overhaul law.
Dr. Michael Maves, who is 62 years old, has served as the organization’s top administrator since 2001, working under the direction of the AMA’s board of trustees. Maves said in a statement that the end of his contract presents an opportunity to transition to new leadership for the AMA, the nation’s largest doctor group with more than 200,000 member physicians. Get the full story »
Nov. 4, 2010 at 11:25 a.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Pharmaceuticals,
Retail,
Updated
By Bruce Japsen
Walgreens chief executive officer Greg Wasson this morning said the drugstore chain will step up investments in services to help Americans manage chronic diseases, saying the company wants to capitalize on what he called the “retailization” of the nation’s health care system.
The Deerfield-based pharmacy giant, meeting with Wall Street analysts and investors, said it wants to continue to expand its network of medical care providers and the services they provide. Walgreens increasingly has been lobbying to give pharmacists a greater role in medical care such as providing immunizations in its stores as well as establishing retail health clinics staffed by nurse practitioners. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 4:09 p.m.
Filed under:
Privacy issues,
Technology,
Updated
By Reuters
Facebook said some of its applications violated the social networking company’s policies against sharing user information, and promised to fix the problem.
Most transfers of information to other companies were inadvertent, Facebook Vice President Marne Levine wrote in a letter released on Wednesday and dated October 29.
Levine in the letter said Facebook would fix the problem. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 3:56 p.m.
Filed under:
Government,
Law firms,
Taxes,
Updated
By Ameet Sachdev
The U.S. government has sued a Chicago lawyer, who was a partner at Seyfarth Shaw, to stop him from peddling allegedly sham tax shelters involving Brazilian consumer debt.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that since at least 2003 John E. Rogers has devised illegal tax schemes for more than 100 customers who have claimed more than $370 million in improper tax deductions. Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 11:24 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Hotels,
Personnel moves,
Restaurants,
Retail,
Updated
By Emily Bryson York
McDonald’s announced today that European president Denis Hennequin will resign to become Chief Executive Officer of the Accor Hotel Group. His departure will be effective at the end of the month.
Before Don Thompson’s promotion to president and chief operating officer early this year, Hennequin was considered to be a dark horse candidate for the position, which is widely considered to be CEO-in-waiting. Jim Skinner, the current CEO, is 66.
“Denis’ leadership made a tangible difference in our key segment of Europe,” Skinner said in a statement. ”The European team’s dedication to our Plan to Win business strategy elevated the restaurant experience for our customers. We wish Denis well in his new role at Accor.” Get the full story »
Nov. 3, 2010 at 9:44 a.m.
Filed under:
Hotels,
Tourism,
Travel,
Updated
By Reuters
The Park Hyatt hotel in downtown Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)
Hyatt Hotels Corp. posted sharply higher quarterly profit on Wednesday as demand for business travel improved.
The hotel owner and operator, controlled by the Pritzker family in Chicago, posted third-quarter earnings of $30 million, or 17 cents per share, up from $5 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Get the full story »
