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Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount program to its growing health care business Amazon is adding a prescription drug discount program to its growing Health care Business . The retail giant said Tuesday that it will launch RxPass, a subscription service for customers who have Prime memberships. Amazon said people will pay $5 a month to fill as many prescriptions as they need from a list of about 50 generic medications, which are generally cheaper versions of brand-name drugs. The company said the flat fee could cover a list of medications like the antibiotic amoxicillin and the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen. Sildenafil also made the list. It’s used to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Viagra and also treats a form of high blood pressure. Amazon sells a range of generic drugs through its pharmacy service. Some already cost as liitle as $1 for a 30-day supply, so the benefit of this new program will vary by customer. The program doesn’t use insurance, and peopl...

Mars says it’s pausing using its trademark M&M’s spokescandies and has enlisted actor and comedian Maya Rudolph to star in its marketing efforts NEW YORK -- Mars says it's pausing using its trademark M &M's spokes candies and has enlisted actor and comedian Maya Rudolph to star in its marketing efforts, including its Super Bowl ad campaign. The news comes three weeks before M &Ms is set to return to the Super Bowl with an ad after sitting it out last year. Mars hasn't disclosed any other creative details about the ad. The Super Bowl is advertising’s biggest stage, with big-name brands pulling out all the stops and paying millions for a 30-second ad in an effort to capture the attention of the more than 100 million viewers that watch the game live. Many spend millions more on marketing campaigns leading up to the big event. Mars revamped the M &M candies last year. which are featured in red, green, orange, yellow, brown and blue, to give them more nuanced...

A popular online chatbot powered by artificial intelligence is proving to be adept at creating disinformation and propaganda WASHINGTON -- Artificial intelligence is writing fiction, making images inspired by Van Gogh and fighting wildfires. Now it's com Pet ing in another endeavor once limited to humans — creating propaganda and disinformation . When researchers asked the online AI chatbot ChatGPT to compose a blog post, news story or essay making the case for a widely debunked claim — that COVID-19 vaccines are unsafe, for example — the site often complied, with results that were regularly indistinguishable from similar claims that have bedeviled online content moderators for years. “Pharmaceutical companies will stop at nothing to push their products, even if it means putting children’s Health at risk,” ChatGPT wrote after being asked to compose a paragraph from the perspective of an anti-vaccine activist concerned about secret pharmaceutical ingredients. When asked, ChatGPT a...

The Justice Department has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google over its online advertising business, long a dominant presence in the world of internet ads. The Justice Department and eight other states filed a historic antitrust lawsuit Tuesday targeting Google over what they allege is the Big Tech giant's monopoly over the online advertising market. "Monopolies threaten the free and fair markets on which our economy is based," Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a press conference on Tuesday. "They stifle innovation, they hurt workers and producers and they increase costs for consumers." "No matter the industry and no matter the company, the Justice Department will vigorously enforce our antitrust laws," Garland added. VIDEO: Top US Google searches of 2022 The lawsuit, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, aims to break up Google's dominance in the online ad marketplace by compelling the company to divest its Google Ad Manager sui...

With egg prices more than doubling in the past year, calls are coming for an investigation into possible price gouging OMAHA, Neb. -- With egg prices more than doubling in the past year, calls are coming for an investigation into possible price gouging. U.S. Sen. Jack Reed sent a letter Tuesday asking for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether egg prices have been improperly manipulated by producers. A farmer-led advocacy group called Farm Action made a similar request last week arguing that there “appears to be a collusive scheme among industry leaders to turn inflationary conditions and an avian flu outbreak into an opportunity to extract egregious profits.” The spike in egg prices has been attributed to the millions of chickens that were slaughtered to limit the spread of bird flu and farmers having to compensate for inflation driving up their costs. But even though roughly 43 million of the 58 million birds slaughtered over the past year to help control bird flu have ...

Microsoft says it’s investigating problems with its online services including its Teams messaging platform and Outlook email system after users around the world reported outages LONDON -- Microsoft said it's investigating problems with its online service s including its Teams messaging platform and Outlook email system after users around the world reported outage s Wednesday. In a status update, the tech company reported “ service degradation” for a number of its Microsoft 365 service s. Thousands of users reported problems with Teams, Outlook, the Azure cloud computing service and XBox Live online gaming service early Wednesday on the Downdetector website, which tracks outage reports . By later in the morning, it showed the number of reports had dropped considerably. Many users took to social media to complain that the service s were down. “We’ve isolated the problem to a networking configuration issue, and we are analyzing the best mitigation strategy to address it without c...

The warming of the waters off the East Coast has brought the loss of microscopic organisms that make up the base of the ocean’s food chain PORTLAND, Maine -- The warming of the waters off the East Coast has come at an invisible, but very steep cost — the loss of microscopic organisms that make up the base of the ocean 's food chain. The growing warmth and saltiness of the Gulf of Maine off New England is causing a dramatic decrease in the production of phytoplankton, according to Maine-based scientist s who recently reported results of a yearslong, NASA-funded study. Phytoplankton, sometimes described as an “invisible forest,” are tiny plant-like organisms that serve as food for marine life. The scientists found that phytoplankton are about 65% less productive in the Gulf of Maine, part of the Atlantic Ocean bounded by New England and Canada, than they were two decades ago. The Gulf of Maine has emerged as one of the fastest warming sections of the world's oceans. Potential ...

Microsoft says it is making a “multiyear, multibillion dollar investment” in the artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT and other tools that can generate readable text, images and computer code Microsoft says it is making a “multiyear, multi billion dollar investment” in the artificial intelligence startup OpenAI, maker of ChatGPT and other tools that can write readable text and generate new images. The tech giant on Monday described its new agreement as the third stage of a growing partnership with San Francisco-based OpenAI that began with a $1 billion investment in 2019. It didn't disclose the dollar amount for its latest investment. OpenAI's free writing tool ChatGPT launched on Nov. 30 and has brought public attention to the possibilities of new advances in AI. It’s part of a new generation of machine-learning systems that can converse, generate readable text on demand and produce novel images and video based on what they’ve learned from a vast databa...

More than 1,000 CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since last May have approved a new contract with the maker of tractors, bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy equipment More than 1,000 CNH Industrial workers who have been on strike since last May approved a new contract Saturday with the maker of tractors, bulldozers, backhoes and other heavy equipment. The United Auto Workers said union members in Racine, Wisconsin, and Burlington, Iowa, approved the deal two weeks after they rejected an earlier agreement. The union didn't didn't disclose any details of what is included in the contract. A spokeswoman for CNH Industrial didn't immediately respond Sunday to questions about the new agreement. Previously, the company said the last offer that workers rejected included raises of 28% to 38% over four years. “This agreement reflects the effort of a determined bargaining team and members being on an almost nine-month strike,” UAW President Ray Curry said in a statem...

Cyprus's finance minister says the country has frozen about 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in Russian-linked deposits and assets in accordance with European Union sanctions over the war in Ukraine NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Cyprus has frozen about 1.5 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in Russian-linked deposits and assets in accordance with European Union sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the island nation's finance minister said Thursday. Constantinos Pet rides also told a press conference that Russian deposits in Cypriot banks have fallen from a stunning 40% of the total before the 2013 financial crisis — when big depositors were forced to take a cut on their money under a so-called "bail-in" deal — to 3.8%. He was responding to a report this week in the CBS 60 Minutes show, which suggested Cyprus still hosts a maze of shell companies concealing assets of sanctioned Russians, and that such assets Cyprus has frozen are a fraction of the total. “We don’t live in an unsupervis...

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell this week to its lowest level since September, a potential boost to the housing market which has been in decline for nearly a year WASHINGTON -- The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell this week to its lowest level since September, a potential boost to the housing market which has been in decline for nearly a year. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the average on the benchmark 30-year rate fell to 6.15% from 6.33% last week. A year ago the average rate was 3.56%. The average long-term rate reached a two-decade high of 7.08% in the fall as the Federal Reserve continued to boost its key lending rate in its quest to cool the economy and tame inflation. The big rise in mortgage rates during the past year has throttled the housing market, with sales of existing homes falling for 10 straight months to the lowest level in more than a decade. Though home prices have retreated as demand has declined, they are still nearly 11...

The European Union’s parliament calls on the member states to back the creation of a special court to judge on any war crime of agression by Russia in Ukraine BRUSSELS -- The European Union's assembly called on the member states on Thursday to back the creation of a special court to judge any war crime of aggression by Russia in Ukraine. The nonbinding resolution was approved by a 472-19 vote with 33 abstentions in the European Parliament, and underscored the EU's willingness to make sure Moscow should be brought to justice for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The legislature called on the EU “to work in close cooperation with Ukraine to seek and build political support in the U.N. General Assembly and other international forums ... for creating the special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine." The call came despite the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court saying his court was capable of effectively dealing with war crimes committed ...

The European Union is pushing forward with a major clean tech industrial plan that not only should keep the continent in the vanguard of plotting a greener future but also guarantee its economic survival as it faces challenges from China and the United... BRUSSELS -- The European Union pushed forward on Tuesday with a major clean tech industrial plan which not only should keep the continent in the vanguard of plotting a greener future but also guarantee its economic survival as it faces challenges from China and the United States. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the outlines for her “Green Deal Industrial Plan” that will make it much easier to push through subsidies for green industries and pool EU-wide projects that are boosted with major funding as the EU pursues the goal of being climate neutral by 2050. “We know that we have a small window to invest in clean tech and innovation to gain leadership before the fossil fuel economy becomes obsolete,” von ...

The casket carrying the former and last king of Greece has emerged from Athens’ metropolitan cathedral after a funeral service attended by royalty from across Europe ATHENS, Greece -- As a crowd of thousands chanted “Long live the king” and “Constantine, Constantine,” the casket carrying the former and last monarch of Greece emerged from Athens' metropolitan cathedral Monday after a funeral service attended by royalty from across Europe. Constantine's wife, Anne-Marie, the sister of Denmark's Queen Margrethe II, and his eldest son, Pavlos, followed at the head of the funeral procession. The casket, draped with the Greek flag, was loaded into a hearse for the trip to Tatoi, a former royal estate north of Athens where Constantine was to be buried near his parents and ancestors. Once a richly forested site popular with Athenians for picnics and nature walks, Tatoi was ravaged by a wildfire about two years ago and had remained mostly blackened and derelict ever since. Cleanup...

Shares are mostly higher in Asia after Wall Street benchmarks ended last week on a high note BANGKOK -- Shares advanced in Asia on Monday after Wall Street benchmarks ended last week on a high note. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was the outlier, giving up 1.2% to 25,810.10, but other regional indexes were higher . Bangkok’s SET index jumped 4.3% on forecasts for a turnaround for the economy, which has been battered by the pandemic. Stocks closed higher Friday on Wall Street as earnings reporting season got underway and CEOs began to show how well or poorly they’re navigating high inflation and a slowing economy. The year has begun with optimism that cooling inflation trends could get the Federal Reserve to ease off soon on its sharp hikes to interest rates. Such increases can drive down inflation, but they do so by slowing the economy and risk causing a recession. They also hurt investment prices. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.7% to 21,898.20 and the Kospi in Seoul jumped...

U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to work constructively with Scotland’s leader despite tensions over her administration’s wish for a new independence referendum LONDON -- U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged Friday to work constructively with Scotland’s leader despite tensions over her administration’s wish for a new independence referendum. Sunak held private talks with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon during his first visit to Scotland since taking power, saying that while they are “not going to agree on everything,” he believes there is scope for cooperation. Sturgeon’s relationship with Sunak’s two predecessors, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, had been frosty in light of Sturgeon’s demand for Scottish independence. “What I want to do as prime minister of the United Kingdom is work constructively with the Scottish government to make a difference to people in Scotland,” Sunak told the BBC. “We’ve got lots of challenges that we all face collectively around the U.K...

The holidays were very good to Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines said Friday that it earned $828 million in the fourth quarter and that consumers are still snapping up flights and making purchases with their airline-branded credit cards. The Atlanta-based airline said momentum has carried over into the new year, as the travel industry continues to recover from the worst of the pandemic. Delta shares closed down 3.5% Friday, however, after the airline gave a disappointing outlook for first-quarter earnings. CEO Ed Bastian said the forecast included the estimated cost of a new contract for pilots, which is awaiting a ratification vote, while many analysts did not consider that expense in their predictions. Delta's report came a day after American Airlines delivered a rosy update on its fourth quarter, saying that rising revenue would push earnings per share to nearly double the amount that Wall Street expected. Both carriers and other U.S. airlines have been helped by strong demand for...