Author: admin

Steve Conine, left, and Niraj ShahBoston Globe via Getty Images The two cofounders of publicly traded online furniture retailer Wayfair are billionaires yet again. Wayfair’s shares have skyrocketed in recent months, nearly tripling in value since April and giving the company a market capitalization of $8.4 billion. Forbes estimates that CEO Niraj Shah and his cofounder and co-chairman, Steve Conine, are now worth over $1 billion each. It’s not their first time in the three-comma club. The duo joined the billionaires list in 2018, worth $1.6 billion apiece, after Wayfair’s stock price doubled in a five-month span. Their fortunes climbed…

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz included “clever, even provocative language” and was “definitely going to push buttons,” the company’s chief marketing officer told trade media outlets.It has. The question now is whether some of the public reaction the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended.Titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused…

LONDON (AP) — Is it The Velvet Underground or Velvet Sundown?The fictitious rock group, Velvet Sundown, which comes complete with AI-generated music, lyrics and album art, is stoking debate about how the new technology is blurring the line between the real and synthetic in the music industry, and whether creators should be transparent with their audience.Computer software is widely used in music production, and artificial intelligence is just the latest tool that disc jockeys, music producers and others have added to their production pipeline. But the rise of AI song generators such as Suno and Udio is set to transform…

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. fashion retailer American Eagle Outfitters wanted to make a splash with its new advertising campaign starring 27-year-old actor Sydney Sweeney. The ad blitz included “clever, even provocative language” and was “definitely going to push buttons,” the company’s chief marketing officer told trade media outlets.It has. The question now is whether some of the public reactions the fall denim campaign produced is what American Eagle intended.Titled “Sydney Sweeney has great jeans,” the campaign sparked a debate about race, Western beauty standards, and the backlash to “woke” American politics and culture. Most of the negative reception focused…

The 2025 Acura ADX is all-new this year, and it takes its place as Acura’s smallest and least expensive crossover SUV. If you think Acura’s RDX or MDX are too big or too expensive, the entry-level ADX could very well satisfy. Among many rivals the ADX faces, one of the most well-established models is the 2025 BMW X1. The X1 arrived in BMW dealerships more than a decade ago, and BMW released this latest third-generation X1 for the 2023 model year. Similar to how Acura positions the ADX, the X1 is the entry point to BMW’s extensive lineup of SUVs.The…

Most of what goes into U.S. landfills is organic waste, ranging from household food scraps to yard trimmings. That’s a problem because in that environment, organic waste is deprived of oxygen, which helps break material down.The result: the release of a lot of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.Consumers can curb their environmental impact by composting, which helps break material down in ways that reduce the release of methane. This can be done whether someone lives in a home with a yard or in an apartment without outside space. Composting also alleviates pressure on landfill space…

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — In the heart of Kathmandu’s tourist hub, Thamel, many cycle rickshaw drivers wait eagerly to take tourists on rides in the vibrant neighborhood.But Babu Tamang’s rickshaw comes with an added twist: a wagging tale and tufts of orange and white fur that delight passengers, with many leaving an extra tip for the hardworking man and some ear scratches for his eight-year-old pup.Tamang, 57, has always been fond of dogs. Babu Tamang speaks with his apartment mate as his canine Shyam sits beside him in their small rented house in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, July 24, 2025. (AP…

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — They wandered through the museum, listening attentively as their guide explained the antiquities in display cabinets. It could have been any tour group, anywhere in the world. But there was something unusual about this one.The group of foreigners visiting the National Museum of Afghanistan was made up only of women. Its guide was a woman, too — one of the first Afghan female tour guides in a country whose Taliban rulers impose the severest restrictions on girls and women anywhere in the world.Somaya Moniry, 24, hadn’t known that tour guides existed, as a profession or even…

Starbucks said Tuesday it’s confident that improved store operations and new products — including a cold foam protein drink — will soon help turn around the company’s lagging U.S. sales.In the meantime, slow U.S. demand continues to be a drag on the company’s results.Starbucks reported that its revenue rose 4% to $9.5 billion in its fiscal third quarter. That was better than the $9.3 billion Wall Street expected, according to analysts polled by FactSet.But same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, fell 2% in the April-June period. That was a bigger decline than Wall Street expected,…

David Ellison, son of software centi-billionaire Larry Ellison, nurtured a relationship with Paramount over the past 15 years as a movie producer. His father’s fortune and political status also scored points. The Federal Communications Commission greenlit the $8 billion merger between Paramount and Skydance Media on Thursday, 383 days after the deal was first announced. The merger, which is set to close on August 7, will transform Larry Ellison, 80, and his son David Ellison, 42, into one of the most powerful duos in Hollywood, wielding influence over TV shows, movies, news and more. As Paramount’s chairman, CEO and owner…