Starbucks turns to a celebrity CEO as it struggles to define itself for an era of mobile orders

To Howard Schultz, the chaos he observed at a Starbucks in Chicago one recent morning summed up the troubles of the company he long led as chairman and CEO.

Commuters tumbled off trains and into a Starbucks store to pick up the orders they had placed on their cellphones. Drinks weren’t ready when the mobile app said they would be. Customers couldn’t tell which beverage was theirs.

“Everyone shows up and all of a sudden we’ve got a mosh pit,” Schultz said during a June episode of the podcast “Acquired.” “That’s not Starbucks.”

...

2024-09-08 12:08:54
[Full Text]

A suicide bomber detonates in Afghan capital, killing at least 6 people and injuring 13

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in the Afghan capital say a suicide bomber carried out an attack Monday, killing at least six people and injuring 13 others.

The blast took place in the southwestern Qala Bakhtiar neighborhood in Kabul, said Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Kabul police chief.

The dead included one woman, he said, while 13 people were wounded, all of them civilians who were taken to a hospital for treatment.

A police investigation is underway. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing.

...

2024-09-02 15:54:04
[Full Text]

Military leader says Myanmar will hold a census next month to compile voter lists

BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar will hold a national census next month to compile voter lists for a general election and to analyze population and socioeconomic trends, the head of the military government said.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing’s announcement on Sunday comes as Myanmar is roiled by a civil war in which the army has been been forced onto the defensive against pro-democracy militants as well as ethnic militias seeking autonomy in much of the country.

...

2024-09-02 15:48:45
[Full Text]

Britain says it is suspending some arms exports to Israel over risk of breaking international law

LONDON (AP) — The British government says it is suspending exports of some weapons to Israel because there is a risk they could be used to break international law.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said Monday there is a “clear risk” some items could be used to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law.”

He told lawmakers the decision related to about 30 of 350 export licenses to Israel, and was not an arms embargo.

“We do not take this decision lightly,” Lammy said.

Britain is among a number of Israel’s longstanding allies whose governments are under growing pressure to halt weapons exports because of the toll of the 11-month-old war in Gaza.

...

2024-09-02 15:42:53
[Full Text]

Taliban rejects UN concerns over laws banning women's voices and bare faces in public

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The Taliban on Monday rejected concerns and criticism of the United Nations over new vice and virtue laws which ban women in Afghanistan from baring their faces and speaking in public places.

...

2024-08-26 16:52:38
[Full Text]

Artists urge Serbia not to extradite to Belarus a critic of its authoritarian regime

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — More than 70 European artists and film directors have signed an open letter urging Serbia not to extradite to Belarus a filmmaker and a prominent critic of the authoritarian government in Minsk, who is wanted in his home country for alleged tax evasion.

The letter, released on Monday, said that Andrei Hniot could face “imprisonment, torture and even death penalty” in Belarus.

...

2024-08-26 15:25:58
[Full Text]

Taiwan bans concert by Chinese rapper over insulting 'Taipei, China' promotional materials

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan has cancelled a planned Taipei concert by a Chinese rapper after he used the insulting term “Taipei, China” in promotional materials.

Wang Yitai’s scheduled Sept. 14 concert has been scrapped and the performer from the southwestern city of Chengdu banned from the island, the Taiwanese government’s Mainland Affairs Council announced late Sunday.

The term is insulting because it describes Taipei, the island’s capital, as a Chinese city under Beijing’s rule, echoing the government’s position on eventually annexing Taiwan by force if necessary and denigrating the island’s lively democracy.

...

2024-08-26 12:35:54
[Full Text]

Disneyland employee dies after falling from moving golf cart in theme park backstage

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — A Disneyland employee died after she fell from a moving golf cart in the backstage area of the Southern California theme park, authorities said Saturday.

Anaheim police Sgt. Jon McClintock said authorities responded to the Disneyland Resort on Wednesday morning after a woman fell from a moving golf cart and struck her head.

She was taken to the hospital and died on Friday of her injuries, McClintock said in a statement.

Ken Potrock, president of the Disneyland Resort, expressed his condolences and said the company was focused on supporting her family and coworkers.

“We are heartbroken,” Potrock said in a statement.

...

2024-06-08 19:53:29
[Full Text]