Writers’ strike injects uncertainty into upfront ad-selling ritual

By Dawn Chmielewski, Helen Coster and Sheila Dang NEW YORK (Reuters) – An animated appearance by Ted, the foul-mouthed teddy bear from the movie of the same name, a gaggle of “Real Housewives” and a NBC News political correspondent appeared at NBCUniversal’s annual ad-selling “upfront” presentation, as a writers’ strike prompted high-wattage acting talent to…

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US charges former Apple engineer with attempt to steal self-driving car tech

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday that it had charged a former Apple Inc engineer with attempting to steal the firm’s technology related to autonomous systems, including self-driving cars. The engineer, whom Justice Department officials named as Weibao Wang, 35, in 2017 accepted a U.S.-based job with a Chinese company working…

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US court halts ruling blocking Obamacare for some preventive healthcare

(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court has temporarily halted a federal judge’s ruling that struck down the Affordable Care Act’s mandate requiring insurers to cover preventive care, the New York Times reported on Monday. The ruling stems from one of several legal challenges Republicans have brought against the 2010 healthcare law, former President Barack Obama’s…

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U.S. business inventories fall in March

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. business inventories unexpectedly fell in March, pulled down by a decline in stocks at manufacturers. Business inventories dipped 0.1% after being unchanged in February, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected inventories, a key component of gross domestic product, would be unchanged. Inventories increased 6.5% on…

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Property insurer SageSure turns ‘unicorn’ after $250 million funding round – source

By Jaiveer Shekhawat (Reuters) – SageSure became a “unicorn” after the U.S. property insurer raised $250 million in its latest funding round, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. A unicorn is a startup that is valued at or above $1 billion. SageSure’s latest fundraising was led by specialty insurance firm Amwins and investment…

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U.S. forms team to set strategy on flying air taxis

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration said Tuesday it has formed an interagency team to develop a national strategy relating to advanced air mobility efforts such as flying taxis. Electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) have been touted as the future of urban air mobility. Low-altitude urban air mobility aircraft has drawn…

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