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    Air India Boeing 787 bound for London with 242 aboard crashes after takeoff in India

    Air India Flight 171 crashed shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad, in western India, according to preliminary flight-path data.
    There were 242 passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.
    The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known and could take months to determine.

    A Boeing Dreamliner plane bound for London with 242 people aboard crashed moments after takeoff from Ahmedabad in western India.
    Air India Flight 171 was flying out of Ahmedabad bound for London Gatwick Airport when it was “involved in a tragic accident today,” Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran said.

    Video posted on social media appeared to show the jetliner descending followed by a fireball and a dark plume of smoke. It wasn’t clear if there were survivors, but if there are casualties, it would be the first fatal crash of a Boeing Dreamliner.

    A view shows the rear of an Air India plane following its crash, in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
    Central Industrial Security Forc | Via Reuters

    The flight was operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a top-selling wide-body aircraft meant for longer routes. The aircraft was delivered to Air India in 2014, according to flight-tracking site FlightRadar24.
    The cause of the crash wasn’t immediately known and could take months to determine. Under international protocols during crashes, the country where the incident took place will lead the investigation, along with officials, the maker of the aircraft and its engines, and others.
    Initial flight-path data “shows that the aircraft reached a maximum barometric altitude of 625 feet (airport altitude is about 200 feet) and then it started to descend with an vertical speed of -475 feet per minute,” FlightRadar said on X.
    The more than 11-year-old plane had 41,000 hours of flight time, nearly 8,000 takeoffs, which are average for that aircraft and the year it was built, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.

    Rescue team members work as smoke rises at the site where an Air India plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
    Amit Dave | Reuters

    “We are in contact with Air India regarding Flight 171 and stand ready to support them,” Boeing said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with the passengers, crew, first responders and all affected.”
    Flights at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, a major airport in the area, were temporarily suspended in the wake of the incident and resumed a few hours later, according to India’s government press bureau.
    “Rescue teams have been mobilised, and all efforts are being made to ensure medical aid and relief support are being rushed to the site. My thoughts and prayers are with all those on board and their families,” said Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, India’s aviation minister, in a post on X.

    People gather near a damaged building at the site where an Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed in Ahmedabad, India, June 12, 2025.
    Amit Dave | Reuters

    The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board said it will send a team of investigators to India.
    The incident occurred just before the high-profile Paris Air Show trade event set for next week, where both Boeing and rival Airbus were set to announce hundreds of aircraft orders.
    Boeing has also been working to turn a corner from a years of safety and quality crises and has made strides, though it remained unclear on Thursday whether an aircraft quality problem was in play in the Air India crash.
    Boeing shares were down more than 5% in premarket trading.
    This is a developing story and will be updated shortly. More

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    The world’s biggest food company plans to beef up in America

    Consumers outside Brazil may not be familiar with JBS, even though many will have tasted its products. But as the meat-packing colossus prepared to list on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on June 13th, its American competitors were quivering in their cowboy boots. The listing is designed to allow JBS, already the world’s biggest food company by revenue, to gobble up even more market share by tapping cheaper capital and attracting new investors. Yet it could also leave the firm vulnerable to litigation from its broad range of enemies, who include environmentalists as well as an unusual coalition of Republicans and Democrats. More

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    Make America French Again

    ON JUNE 14TH Constitution Avenue will turn into the Champs Elysées for a day. Some 150 military vehicles, 50 aircraft and 6,600 troops will roll, fly and march past the White House to celebrate the US Army’s 250th birthday (and, coincidentally, its current occupant’s 79th). The scene will be reminiscent of the annual Bastille Day parade in Paris, which so inspired Donald Trump when he attended one during his first presidential term that he has since insisted on emulating it at home. More

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    RFK Jr. names some vaccine critics to key CDC committee after ousting entire panel

    Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. named eight new members to a crucial government panel of vaccine advisors after firing the entire group just days earlier. 
    The new members will join the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    His picks include some well-known vaccine critics, including Dr. Robert Malone.

    Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday named eight new members to a crucial government panel of vaccine advisors after firing the entire group just days earlier. 
    His picks include some well-known vaccine critics, including Dr. Robert Malone.

    The new members will join the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, which advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The group reviews vaccine data and makes recommendations that determine who is eligible for shots and whether insurers should cover them, among other efforts.
    The CDC director has to sign off on those recommendations for them to become official policy.
    The eight new advisors will attend ACIP’s planned meeting on June 25 to 27, Kennedy said in a post on X on Wednesday. Seventeen members previously served on ACIP.
    It is unclear now how, taken together, the new advisors will affect vaccine policy and availability in the U.S. But public health experts had expected Kennedy could choose members who share his skepticism of immunization.
    “We all knew this would happen and it’s a national tragedy and a major threat to children’s health and lives,” Lawrence Gostin, professor of public health law at Georgetown University, said in a post on X.

    Kennedy said his picks include “highly credentialed scientists, leading public-health experts, and some of America’s most accomplished physicians.” He said they are committed to evidence-based medicine, gold-standard science, and common sense.”
    Malone suggested earlier this year, without evidence, that recent deaths from measles among children were due to medical errors rather than the virus itself. Malone bills himself as having played a key role in the creation of mRNA vaccines, but has become a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine movement.
    Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician specializing in infectious diseases at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a member of the FDA’s independent panel of vaccine advisers, called some of the new members “anti-vaccine activists.”
    “I think the public is not going to be getting the same quality of advice as we had before the purge,” he told CNBC. “I think the people who were on the committee that just got fired had far greater expertise in the areas that you needed expertise than this group.”
    Offit said he expects recommendations from ACIP to be “less informed” with the new members.
    HHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on some members holding anti-vaccine views.
    Here are Kennedy’s picks: 

    Dr. Robert Malone – a physician and vaccine critic who conducted early research on mRNA vaccine technology.
    Dr. Joseph Hibbeln – a psychiatrist and neuroscientist who was formerly the acting chief of the section of nutritional neurosciences in the Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics & Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health.
    Dr. Martin Kulldorff – a biostatistician and epidemiologist, who was dismissed at Harvard Medical School last year after blasting the university for how it handled the Covid-19 pandemic. He has served on the Food and Drug Administration’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee and the CDC’s vaccine safety subgroup of ACIP.
    Retsef Levi – a professor of operations management at the MIT Sloan School of Management who has also served as faculty director of the school’s food supply chain analytics and sensing initiative. 
    Dr. Cody Meissner – a professor of pediatrics at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. He has held advisory roles with both the CDC and FDA, and has been a voting member of ACIP and the FDA’s vaccine advisory committee.
    Dr. James Pagano – a board-certified emergency medicine physician who has served on multiple hospital committees.
    Dr. Michael Ross – a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at George Washington University and Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served on the CDC’s Advisory Committee for the Prevention of Breast and Cervical Cancer.
    Vicky Pebsworth – a nurse with a PhD in public health, who has previously served on FDA vaccine advisory committees.

    But Pebsworth is a nurse on the board of The National Vaccine Information Center. That organization has been widely criticized as a leading source of misinformation and fearmongering about immunization.
    Meanwhile, Levi slammed mRNA vaccines in a post on X in 2023, which was still pinned to the top of his account Wednesday afternoon.
    “The evidence is mounting and indisputable that MRNA vaccines cause serious harm including death, especially among young people,” Levi wrote. “We have to stop giving them immediately!”
    Offit said Meissner is the most qualified pick of the group, saying he’s an expert and a “good choice.”
    In a Dartmouth article in 2024, Meissner called measles vaccines “very safe and highly effective.”
    “Parents need to make sure that their children are getting their vaccinations so cases don’t go up,” he said.
    Kennedy previously downplayed the ongoing measles outbreak in the U.S. and has spread unfounded claims that vaccines against the virus contain fetal cells.
    This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates. More

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    Howard Schultz says he ‘did a cartwheel’ when Starbucks CEO Niccol coined ‘back to Starbucks’ strategy

    Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz made a surprise appearance at the company’s Leadership Experience in Las Vegas.
    Schultz said he “did a cartwheel” when current CEO Brian Niccol coined his “back to Starbucks” strategy — a key stamp of approval as the new chief executive tries to turn around the company.
    The three-day event marks the first time that Schultz and Niccol have publicly appeared together.

    Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz drinks from a Starbucks mug while testifying before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing to answer questions about the company’s compliance with labor law on Capitol Hill in Washington., U.S., March 29, 2023. 
    Julia Nikhinson | Reuters

    LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said Wednesday that he “did a cartwheel” in his living room when current chief executive Brian Niccol first coined his “back to Starbucks” strategy.
    The enthusiasm from the 71-year-old Starbucks chairman emeritus is a key stamp of approval for Niccol as he tries to lift the company’s slumping sales and restore the chain’s culture.

    Schultz, who grew Starbucks from a small chain into a global coffee giant, made a surprise appearance at the company’s Leadership Experience in Las Vegas and cosigned Niccol’s plans. The three-day event has gathered more than 14,000 North American store leaders to hear from Starbucks management as the company embarks on a turnaround.
    Niccol took the reins in September, joining the company after the board ousted Laxman Narasimhan, Schultz’s handpicked successor. After a rocky start to the year, Starbucks shares have climbed nearly 20% since the beginning of April. They are now trading at around $95.30, just shy of where they closed on August 13, following a nearly 25% jump the day Niccol was named CEO.
    Schultz had returned in 2022 for his third stint as chief executive, but it was only an interim role. He previously told CNBC that he has no plans to come back again. Schultz no longer holds a formal role within the company, although CNBC has previously reported that he’s forever entitled to attend board meetings unless barred by the company’s directors.
    Schultz was once one of the company’s largest shareholders, but he sold his Starbucks holdings sometime between the end of 2024 and early 2025, FactSet data shows.
    During Niccol’s first week on the job, he outlined plans for the comeback in an open letter, making the commitment to get “back to Starbucks.” More details on how the chain planned to return to its roots followed in the ensuing months, from bringing back seating inside cafes to writing personalized messages on cups. Under Niccol’s leadership, the company’s marketing has shifted to focus on its coffee, rather than discounts and promotions.

    When Starbucks announced Narasimhan’s firing and Niccol’s hiring, Schultz issued a statement of support, saying that the then-Chipotle CEO was the leader that the company needs. However, the Leadership Experience marks the first time that Niccol and Schultz have appeared publicly together.
    During Narasimhan’s short tenure as CEO, Schultz did not mince words when the company’s performance fell short of his expectations. After a dismal quarterly earnings report, he weighed in publicly on LinkedIn, saying the company needs to improve its mobile order and pay experience and overhaul how it creates new drinks to focus on premium items that set it apart.
    But Schultz said Starbucks’ problems went further than just operational issues and lackluster beverages and food.
    “The culture was not understood. The culture wasn’t valued. The culture wasn’t being upheld,” he said on Wednesday.
    — CNBC’s Tom Rotunno contributed to this report More

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    Women’s Tennis Association unveils rule protecting players’ rankings during fertility procedures

    WTA players can pause their rankings while undergoing fertility treatments like egg or embryo freezing.
    The new rule expands WTA’s family support, including maternity leave and fertility grants.

    Sloane Stephens looks on against Madison Keys during the Charlotte Invitational at Spectrum Center on December 06, 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
    Jacob Kupferman | Getty Images

    The Women’s Tennis Association has introduced a rule allowing players to protect their rankings during fertility treatments.
    The policy means that players can step away from professional tennis to undergo procedures like egg or embryo freezing and return to the tour with a protected ranking.

    Players must be out for 10 consecutive weeks for a procedure, and they receive a “Special Entry Ranking” based on their recent averages. It can be used for three tournaments after coming back.
    “The WTA has now created a safe space for players to explore options and to make the best decisions for themselves,” eight-time WTA champion Sloane Stephens said in a press release.
    The rule expands the WTA’s existing support programs, such as maternity leave, postpartum support and fertility grants.
    “We are committed to supporting WTA players as they navigate and balance the choices associated with career and family,” said WTA CEO Portia Archer in a press release.
    The move comes as female athletes have been pushing to grow efforts to address fertility challenges. More

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    GM to invest $4 billion in U.S. plants amid tariffs for Mexican-produced vehicles

    GM plans to invest $4 billion in several American plants, including adding production of two popular Chevrolet vehicles that are currently built in Mexico.
    The Detroit automaker announced the plans Tuesday, as there have been few indications of progress in trade talks between the Trump administration and Mexican leaders.
    The investment and moves will likely be hailed as a win for Trump’s policies and automotive tariffs, which took effect for imported vehicles in April and many auto parts in May.

    UAW Local 5960 member Kimberly Fuhr inspects a Chevrolet Bolt EV during vehicle production on May 6, 2021, at the General Motors Orion Assembly Plant in Orion Township, Michigan.
    Steve Fecht for Chevrolet

    DETROIT — General Motors plans to invest $4 billion in three American assembly plants, including moving or increasing production of two Mexican-produced vehicles to U.S. plants.
    The Detroit automaker announced the plans Tuesday, as there have been few indications of progress in trade talks between the Trump administration and Mexican leaders. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump implemented 25% tariffs on imported vehicles and 25% tariffs on many auto parts imported into the U.S.

    GM said the investment will add assembly of the gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer and Chevrolet Equinox that are currently produced in Mexico to two other plants in the U.S. and convert a large idled plant in Michigan — formerly expected to build all-electric trucks — to make gas-powered SUVs and trucks in 2027.
    GM declined to discuss the future of the Ramos Arizpe plant that currently produces the vehicles in Mexico. A source familiar with the plans said production of the Blazer will fully move to the U.S. from Mexico, while production of the Equinox is expected to be additive to the Mexican plant, which also will produce for other markets.
    The investment and moves will likely be hailed as a win for Trump’s policies and automotive tariffs, which took effect for imported vehicles in April and many auto parts in May.
    “We believe the future of transportation will be driven by American innovation and manufacturing expertise,” GM CEO Mary Barra said in a release. “Today’s announcement demonstrates our ongoing commitment to build vehicles in the U.S and to support American jobs. We’re focused on giving customers choice and offering a broad range of vehicles they love.”
    The new investment, which will take place through 2027, will give GM the ability to assemble more than two million vehicles per year in the U.S., according to the automaker.

    Stock chart icon

    GM’s stock price in 2025.

    GM said its Fairfax Assembly in Kansas will add production of the gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox beginning in mid-2027. The gas-powered Chevrolet Blazer will be added to Spring Hill Assembly in Tennessee starting in 2027, according to the company.
    The Detroit automaker said its 2025 capital spending guidance is unchanged at between $10 billion and $11 billion. But it expects annual capital spending in the range of between $10 billion and $12 billion through 2027.
    GM has been analyzing its North American production footprint for months amid the tariffs, with executives saying they weren’t going to make any decisions — instead taking a “wait and see” approach — until they got further clarity on the regulatory environment, including the auto levies.
    GM CFO Paul Jacobson said late last month during a Bernstein investor event that the tariffs wouldn’t probably be “as bad as the market reacted to.” He said potential trade deals with other countries and the automaker’s ability to mitigate some costs of the tariffs were promising signs.
    The Detroit automaker previously said it expected to be able to offset between 30% and 50% of the North American tariffs without deploying any capital in the short-term.
    GM CEO Mary Barra during the Bernstein event said the company is “going to see us be very resilient and, again, strengthen our business as we move forward — in some cases, seize opportunities where the vehicles are so successful.”
    Those opportunities now appear to include pulling back additional spending on electric vehicles. The Orion Assembly plant in suburban Detroit, which will be retooled for gas products, was expected to be its second EV-exclusive plant in the U.S. More

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    Starbucks to roll out Microsoft Azure OpenAI assistant for baristas

    Starbucks unveiled a generative AI assistant created with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform at its Leadership Experience in Las Vegas.
    The technology will roll out to stores in the U.S. and Canada in fiscal 2026.
    The coffee chain has been trying to simplify baristas’ jobs and speed up service in its cafes as part of its turnaround plans.

    A Starbucks store is shown in Encinitas, California, on Feb. 24, 2025.
    Mike Blake | Reuters

    Starbucks plans to roll out a generative artificial intelligence assistant created with Microsoft Azure’s OpenAI platform to 35 locations this month as part of its strategy to simplify baristas’ jobs and speed up service in its cafes.
    The coffee chain showed off the new technology to more than 14,000 North American store managers at its Leadership Experience in Las Vegas on Tuesday. A broad launch of the “Green Dot Assist” platform across the U.S. and Canada is slated for the company’s fiscal 2026, which starts in the fall.

    The three-day event comes as Starbucks pushes to revive its sluggish U.S. sales and “get back to Starbucks,” as CEO Brian Niccol has described the effort since he took the role last year. Niccol’s priorities include slashing service times to four minutes per order. Quick, accurate answers to barista questions could help achieve that goal.
    “It’s just another example of how innovation technology is coming into service of our partners and making sure that we’re doing all we can to simplify the operations, make their jobs just a little bit easier, maybe a little bit more fun, so that they can do what they do best,” Starbucks Chief Technology Officer Deb Hall Lefevre told CNBC.
    Instead of flipping through manuals or accessing Starbucks’ intranet, baristas will be able to use a tablet behind the counter equipped with Green Dot Assist to get answers to a range of questions, from how to make an iced shaken espresso to troubleshooting equipment errors. Baristas can either type or verbally ask their queries in conversational language.
    As the AI assistant evolves, Starbucks has even bigger plans for its next generation. Those ideas include automatically creating a ticket with IT for equipment issues or generating suggestions for a substitute when a barista calls out of work, according to Lefevre.
    Starbucks is expanding its relationship with Microsoft about a year after the tech giant’s CEO Satya Nadella stepped down from Starbucks’ board of directors.

    Since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in late 2022, companies have been trying to implement generative AI in their own operations, envisioning the AI hype can cut expenses and maybe even boost their stock prices. Walmart and JPMorgan Chase are among the corporate giants that have rolled out AI assistants for their workforce.
    But chatbots aren’t always a perfect solution. They can sometimes provide inaccurate answers, known as “hallucinations,” which could mean another headache instead of an easy resolution. Lefevre said the company’s partnership with Microsoft includes a grounding engine that ensures the accuracy of the information provided.
    Other restaurant companies have also been looking to AI to simplify their restaurant workers’ jobs and improve operations. For example, Yum Brands has partnered with Nvidia to roll out AI order-taking, Nvidia-powered computer vision and restaurant performance assessments fueled by AI. But AI agreements haven’t always been successful. McDonald’s ended its partnership with IBM after its test of AI drive-thru order-taking didn’t meet expectations.
    Other new technology on display at the Leadership Experience includes the latest generation of Starbucks’ Mastrena espresso machines and a more intuitive point-of-sale system.
    Lefevre said tenured baristas have been learning to use the new POS in as little as an hour. Plus, the technology can offer personalized recommendations and loyal customers’ repeat orders, helping Starbucks achieve the personalized touch it’s looking to bring back to its cafes.

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