Monthly Archives: <span>April 2019</span>

Illinois Comptroller Orders IT Contract Progress Reports

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has suspended $5.7 million in payments on an online state-employee health insurance program, a project so botched it also prompted her to begin ordering performance reports for all large state technology contracts. Mendoza …

Real or Artificial? Tech Titans Declare AI Ethics Concerns

About the photo: In this March 21, 2019 photo a robot called “Pepper” is positioned near an entrance to a Microsoft Store location, in Boston. Microsoft, a company that often tries to position itself as an early thinker on ethics …

Midwest Floods Hammer Ethanol Industry, Push Gasoline Prices to 5-Year High

The March floods that punished the U.S. Midwest have trapped barrels of ethanol in the country’s interior, causing shortages of the biofuel and helping to boost gasoline prices in the western United States. The historic floods have dealt a series …

American Tourist and Guide Kidnapped in Uganda Freed after a ‘Settlement’: Tour Firm

KAMPALA — An American tourist and her guide abducted in Uganda last week were released after a “negotiated settlement” was reached with the kidnappers, the firm that had organized her safari told Reuters on Monday. Amid fears the incident could …

Opioid Evangelist Switches Sides in Case Alleging Pharma Abuse

A doctor who was an early evangelist for increased use of highly addictive opioids like OxyContin to treat chronic pain — and who was paid to promote the idea — has switched sides and now says drug makers helped to …

Johnson & Johnson Wins Trial Over California Talc-Cancer Claim

Johnson & Johnson won the latest trial over claims its iconic baby powder can cause cancer, as a jury in Long Beach, California, rejected a lawsuit brought by a 65-year-old retired teacher who claimed the product was contaminated with asbestos. …

U.K. Joins Social Media Crackdown After Live-Streamed Attack

The United Kingdom joined a growing global backlash against technology companies such as Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc., proposing fines and bans if social-media platforms fail to curb illegal activity. The government outlined plans for an industry-funded regulator that would …

Radar Data Analysis Pinpoints Precipitation Risk for Vehicle Fatalities

A stormy nation is expected to become even stormier, bringing rain and snow that is known to increase the number of vehicle accidents. The exact degree of increased risk has been the subject of numerous studies, but most of them …

Boeing to Slash 737 Jet Output as Crash Halts Deliveries

Boeing Co. will cut output of its 737 jetliners by mid-April and is creating a special board panel to review safety and design after two fatal crashes prompted regulators worldwide to ground the newest and best-selling member of the aircraft …

Sorry, Laws Protecting Doctors Who Apologize Don’t Lessen Litigation

Laws intended to reduce malpractice litigation by protecting doctors who want to apologize don’t work, according to a new Vanderbilt analysis of proprietary insurance data. It turns out people sue for money and an apology doesn’t change that reality. In …