Judge halts Microsoft work on cloud deal after Amazon suit

Bloomberg A federal judge temporarily blocked Microsoft Corp from working on a $10 billion Pentagon cloud-computing contract after Amazon.com Inc asked for the delay as it challenges the validity of the award over allegations that President Donald Trump interfered. The government can’t proceed with implementing the contract “until further order of the court,” according to the decision by Court of ...

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Apple accused by ex-exec it’s suing of poaching staff

Bloomberg A former Apple Inc chip executive sued for allegedly betraying the iPhone maker by launching a startup and poaching its employees accused the technology giant of doing the same to him. Gerard Williams III, who last year left his job as lead chip architect at Apple and co-founded Nuvia Inc, fired back with his own claims against his former ...

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UK housing market sees optimism

Bloomberg UK real estate agents reported that house prices increased for the first time in more than a year last month. In more evidence of a pickup in sentiment following Boris Johnson’s December election victory, which lifted uncertainty about whether the country would leave the European Union, an index of price changes rose to the strongest level since 2017. Measures ...

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FB prepares for wave of influencer marketing in politics

Bloomberg Facebook Inc is trying to clarify how it will handle a new wrinkle in the world of digital political advertising: politicians paying influencers to post on social media platforms like Instagram, which it owns. In the past, political entities were technically barred from offering money for posts, which has become a common practice for marketers. But Facebook is changing ...

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Amazon axes delivery firms over not ‘meeting standards’

Bloomberg Amazon.com Inc is severing ties with small delivery firms around the country — putting at least 1,300 drivers out of work — in an effort to eliminate partners that aren’t meeting its standards. Bear Down Logistics, an Illinois company that rapidly expanded over the past two years, is shuttering operations in five states and letting go of about 400 ...

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Boeing says it doesn’t need to move 737 Max wiring bundles

Bloomberg Boeing Co told US regulators that it didn’t see the need to undertake a potentially costly fix for a wiring issue on the company’s grounded 737 Max, according to two people familiar with the briefing. The planemaker found in an audit last year of the 737 Max that wires were bundled improperly in a way that could trigger a ...

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Walmart closing its Jetblack shopping service in New York

Bloomberg Walmart Inc’s Jetblack, a personal-shopping service for busy urban families, will cease operations on February 21, according to a company spokesman. The brainchild of Walmart’s online chief Marc Lore, Jetblack will be integrated into the parent company’s operations and its technology applied to other parts of the retailer. Nearly 300 employees will be let go as part of the ...

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Kraft Heinz’s junk downgrade rekindles bond market jitters

Bloomberg Kraft Heinz Co, the iconic food giant created in a merger five years ago, was downgraded to junk by two credit raters, raising fresh worries among investors that a slowing economy could threaten the broader corporate bond market. The packaged-food company was cut one level to BB+ by S&P Global Ratings, following Fitch Ratings last week. It will now ...

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Luxury retailers sued over alleged no-hire pacts

Bloomberg Saks, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and other luxury retailers were accused in a lawsuit of agreeing to not hire sales clerks from each other’s stores in violation of US antitrust law. The companies conspired to enter into “no-hire agreements” that prohibit them from hiring employees who have worked within six months for rival brands, according to the complaint filed last ...

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Ships are skipping China and it’s causing turmoil for trade

Bloomberg February 2020 will come to be remembered as a period of historic disruption to physical supply chains the world over, as the coronavirus wrecks trade. Dozens of export sailings to ship China-made goods to consumers from the US to Europe — think handbags, flat-screen TVs, and plastic toys — have been canned since the coronavirus crisis escalated last month. ...

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