CNN – Business/Consumer

By Clare Duffy and Ramishah Maruf, CNN New York (CNN) — Amazon on Wednesday cut hundreds of jobs across two different business units: streaming platform Twitch and its film and television studios division. Amazon is cutting “several hundred” roles across Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios, according to an internal note shared with CNN. In

By Brian Fung, CNN (CNN) — With any luck, most people will never find themselves in a situation calling for CPR, the Heimlich maneuver or urgent treatment of a snake bite. But if it happens, YouTube will now provide quick access to step-by-step first aid videos made by hospitals and trustworthy health organizations. On Wednesday,

By Anna Bahney, CNN Washington, DC (CNN) — Mortgage applications surged by 9.9% in the first week of the year, a sign that lower rates are bringing homebuyers off the sidelines, according to a report released Wednesday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Applications soared in the week ending January 5 from a week earlier, on

By Matt Egan, CNN New York (CNN) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will highlight in a speech on Wednesday cooling inflation and an economy continuing to defy recession predictions. During an appearance in Boston, Yellen will tout the fact that television prices are down by 28% from their peak, used cars and trucks are 11%

By Parija Bhatnagar, CNN New York (CNN) — Despite the overarching message of the Barbie movie, Barbie herself has faced protracted criticism over the years for the doll’s effects on the self-image of young girls. Barbie hasn’t been evolving fast enough, the critics said, and it continues to portray an unrealistic role model of a

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN New York (CNN) — The McDonald’s Big Mac is getting even bigger. Beginning January 24, the chain is bringing back the Double Big Mac, which has four beef patties instead of the usual two, for a limited time nationwide. McDonald’s briefly sold the special sandwich in March 2020, announcing its arrival

By Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN New York (CNN) — The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, measured 2.6% annually in November. So, getting that number down to the Fed’s 2% target should happen in no time, right? It might not be that simple. Fed officials predict it will take two more years

By Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN (CNN) — When 44-year-old Kate Kaden from Maine became a single mom a few years ago, she struggled with getting financially back on track, especially after the holiday shopping season. She started to make videos on YouTube about participating in an emerging movement called No Spend January, where people resist

By Nadine Schmidt, CNN Berlin (CNN) — German commuters faced chaos on Wednesday as the country was hit with a three-day national rail strike, adding to travel disruption in Europe’s biggest economy where protesting farmers continued to block roads and highways. Both cargo and passenger trains were affected by the rail strike which led the

By Hanna Ziady, CNN London (CNN) — Humanity faces a perilous future, marked by an explosion of disinformation turbocharged by artificial intelligence and the devastating effects of climate change. The gloomy outlook comes from an annual survey by the World Economic Forum (WEF) of people paid to identify and manage global risks. According to the

By Laura He, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China is sure to have surpassed Japan to become the world’s number one car exporter last year, driven by strong demand in Russia and growing global appetite for electric vehicles (EV), a major industry group has forecast. The China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) said Tuesday the country

By Juliana Liu and Hassan Taiyer, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — A Chinese tech company has succeeded in cracking the encryption around Apple’s AirDrop wireless file sharing function to identify users of the popular feature, according to judicial authorities in Beijing. The company, Wangshendongjian Technology, was able to help police track down people who used

CNN By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — Kia unveiled a series of highly customizable electric van concepts at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, becoming just the latest automaker to enter that hotly competitive market. Electric vans have become big business as Americans have gotten used to getting more things delivered and automakers and their

By Samantha Delouya and Lauren del Valle, CNN New York (CNN) — Over the past several days, hundreds of documents from a Jeffrey Epstein-connected lawsuit were unsealed and released for the first time. The last of those documents was unsealed Tuesday. The full scope of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged criminal activity has remained shrouded in mystery

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — Kia unveiled a series of highly customizable electric van concepts at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show Tuesday, becoming just the latest automaker to enter that hotly competitive market. Electric vans have become big business as Americans have gotten used to getting more things delivered and automakers and their corporate-fleet

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — Honda unveiled two concept vehicles at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas that offer an early look at an upcoming line of electric vehicles. The first of these new EVs, called the Honda 0 Series, will go into production in 2026, Honda announced. The new models will also

By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN New York (CNN) — Crypto advocates gunning for approval for bitcoin ETFs by the Securities and Exchange Commission got a false alarm on Tuesday afternoon. The SEC’s X account posted a message saying the regulator had approved them, but SEC Chair Gary Gensler quickly published a message on his own X

By Jennifer Korn, CNN (CNN) — Duolingo laid off around 10% of its contract workers, the company told CNN Tuesday, as the educational technology app moves to rely more heavily on artificial intelligence. While not all layoffs were due to the technology, the language learning company let go of some contractors at the end of

By Peter Valdes-Dapena, CNN (CNN) — VinFast, a Vietnamese electric vehicles maker that only recently entered the United States market, revealed plans Tuesday to go after America’s popular pickup market. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Vinfast unveiled the VF Wild, a mid-sized electric pickup. Although the VF Wild is officially a concept