The number of new cases of the emerging coronavirus, called COVID-19, appeared to be leveling off until China reported more than 14,840 new cases and 242 new deaths just in Hubei province, and continued faulty reporting has stymied efforts to understand the virus and allocate resources. Health officials in Hubei appear to be assuming symptomatic patients whose lung scans show pneumonia have the virus, but some patients might instead have an influenza infection, experts say.
⋅ Reuters
Wells Fargo employees no longer will have to sign an agreement to settle sexual harassment claims through arbitration rather than in court. Wells Fargo has "raised the bar for financial institutions aiming to root out sexual harassment in the workplace," said Molly Betournay of Clean Yield, an investment company that asked the bank to review its policy.
Eighth-grade civics students at a Massachusetts middle school recently learned about the First Amendment, Supreme Court cases and how students can change the world. Connecting by video chat, students were able to talk to siblings Mary Beth and John Tinker, who in 1965 were suspended from school for protesting the Vietnam war by wearing armbands, and Cathy Kuhlmeier, editor of a school newspaper that was censored by the principal.
⋅ Fortune
Goldman Sachs' revenue and profit centers have eroded, in part because of regulation and electronic trading, and the task of restructuring and rejuvenating the company falls to CEO David Solomon. He's implementing the company's first multiyear strategic plan and emphasizing financial and bureaucratic efficiency, while Goldman has also relaxed its office culture, starting with the dress code.
⋅ The Hill
The Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Act of 2020, a bipartisan bill introduced in the US Senate, would create a pilot program to fund projects that teach students about nutrition and connect them with healthful food practices. Priority in funding would be given to high-needs schools, including those in which 40% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
Many companies that make health-related apps and websites collect highly sensitive user data but are not subject to the same laws and regulations as health care providers or payers, and many hold the right to change their terms of service without users' consent. Lawmakers should consider requiring user opt-in before digital health companies change terms of service regarding data use and privacy and require continuation of service under the original terms for those who choose not to opt in, the University of Houston Law Center's Jessica Roberts and Daniels & Tredennick's Jim Hawkins write.
Verizon Media has joined forces with JCDecaux's digital out-of-home marketplace, VIOOH, to merge digital screen and billboard inventory into its demand-side platform. This move will enable marketers to run DOOH campaigns in more than 60 cities in seven countries, including the US, Germany, Italy and the UK.
Manufacturers can learn from Tesla's innovation approach by starting with acquiring so-called innovation capital, or stakeholder support, write Nathan Furr and Jeff Dyer. "The core strategy has unique elements at each level of the ecosystem: overturning the core product architecture, positioning themselves in key bottleneck components, and resolving system-level limitations that slow the adoption of the technology," they write.
CleanRobotics is aiming to eliminate recycling-related confusion and waste with its TrashBot, a trash bin with artificial intelligence technology that sorts garbage into the correct internal recycling bin. The machines, which are now being made for high-volume locations but will eventually come in smaller versions, can be updated as recycling regulations change.
⋅ CNN
The state of Massachusetts has sued e-cigarette maker Juul Labs and its former parent firm Pax Labs for allegedly targeting children in its initial advertising campaign. The lawsuit accuses Juul of hiring young-seeming models for an ad campaign that ran on websites aimed at children.
HBO Max will complement sister service HBO when the streaming service launches, WarnerMedia's Robert Greenblatt explains in an interview where he expounds on the company's strategy for HBO Max for its May debut. "We're trying really hard to assign the same quality level and curated feeling that HBO has. It'll never be 50,000 hours of programming," he says.
The UK government is taking another look at the feasibility and economic benefits of building a bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland. Last year, British structural engineer Ian Firth outlined three possible designs, including a submerged tube attached to floating pontoons at the surface or tethered by cables to the sea.
Extremely thin two-dimensional materials such as molybdenum disulfide and graphene hold promise for the manufacturing of phones, headphones, solar cells and more. They can also be combined into three-dimensional blocks and deposited on silicon wafers for experiments.
American will be the only airline flying to Bangalore from the US, and will operate Seattle's first nonstop service to India, when flights begin on the new route in October. "This is going to come as a bit of a surprise to the world," said American's Vasu Raja, who said Bangalore was the top new destination requested by the airline's corporate customers.
While MGM Resorts International's fourth-quarter revenue growth was positive, net numbers for MGM Springfield dropped to $71 million year over year. "MGM Springfield has admittedly performed below our expectations, and we've recently made some changes," says outgoing CEO James Murren, who reportedly plans to sell the land under the casino and lease it back.