WASHINGTON (AP) — Marlboro-maker Altria is taking a big financial hit from its multibillion-dollar bet on e-cigarettes. The tobacco giant on Thursday slashed the value of its investment in the beleaguered vaping company Juul Labs by a third, dragging down its results to a financial loss for the quarter. Richmond, Virginia-based Altria bought roughly a […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Measles has a stealth side effect: New research shows it erases much of the immune system’s memory of how to fight other germs, so children recover only to be left more vulnerable to bugs like flu or strep. Scientists dubbed the startling findings “immune amnesia.” The body can rebuild those defenses — […]

BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group declared a new leader Thursday after it confirmed the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi days earlier in a U.S raid in Syria. In its audio release by the IS central media arm, al-Furqan Foundation, a new spokesman for IS identifies the successor as Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter is banning all political advertising from its service, saying social media companies give advertisers an unfair advantage in proliferating highly targeted, misleading messages. Facebook has taken fire since it disclosed earlier in October that it will not fact-check ads by politicians or their campaigns, which could allow them to lie […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — A Juul Labs executive who was fired earlier this year is alleging that the vaping company knowingly shipped 1 million tainted nicotine pods to customers. The allegation comes in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by lawyers representing Siddharth Breja, a one-time finance executive at the e-cigarette maker. The suit claims that Breja was […]

PARIS (AP) – French President Emmanuel Macron has given a speech inaugurating the European Judaism Center in Paris. The 5,000-square-meter (53,820-square-foot) space that was opened Tuesday is a place of exchange and boasts a synagogue with 600 seats and an exhibition center. Macron said “this center is an act of faith in the future.” It […]

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Facebook has sued the Israeli hacker-for-hire company NSO Group for allegedly targeting some 1,400 users of its encrypted messaging service WhatsApp with highly sophisticated spyware. It appears to be the first legal action of its kind, involving a nearly totally unregulated realm. Facebook alleges in a federal lawsuit filed in California […]

LONDON (AP) — Britons will be heading out to vote in the dark days of December after the House of Commons on Tuesday backed an early national vote that could break the country’s political impasse over Brexit — or turn out to be merely a temporary distraction. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes that electing a […]

WASHINGTON (JNS) — U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that former Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s replacement has also been killed by U.S. troops. “Just confirmed that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s number one replacement has been terminated by American troops,” tweeted Trump. “Most likely would have taken the top spot. Now he is also […]

CUPERTINO (AP) — Apple is resuming the use of humans to review Siri commands and dictation with the latest iPhone software update. In August, Apple suspended the practice and apologized for the way it used people, rather than just machines, to review the audio. While common in the tech industry, the practice undermined Apple’s attempts […]