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Walmart, Costco and other companies rethink self-checkout

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

New York (CNN) — The backlash against self-checkout is growing, and stores are starting to dial back on the technology after it exploded over the past few years.Booths, a British supermarket chain, said it’s removing self-checkout stations in all but two of its 28 stores. In the United States, Walmart, Costco, Wegmans and other chains have also revised their self-checkout strategies.“Our customers have told us this over time — that the self-scan machines that we’ve got in our stores … can be slow, they can be unreliable (and) they’re obviously impersonal,” Booths managing director Nigel Murray told the BBC.Customers at Booths also frequently misidentified which fruits and vegetables they were buying when prompted by self-checkout machines. Alcohol purchases also were not smooth transactions through self-checkout because employees had to verify customers’ ages.“Some customers don’t know one different apple versus another, for example,” Murray said. “There’s all so...

Chili’s hires Boyz II Men to sing a new version of its iconic baby back ribs jingle

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

New York (CNN) — One of the most recognizable jingles in history is making a return.Chili’s is bringing back its “I want my baby back, baby back, baby back…ribs” jingle for a new advertising campaign promoting the dish that’s been a staple on the chain’s menu since the late 1980s.The chain has hired Boyz II Men to sing an updated version of the jingle, a nod to the misconception that many people might have thought the R&B group originally recorded it — around the same time their fourth studio album was released, “Evolution,” which sold two million copies in the US.The jingle, last used in the mid-2000s, became an earworm for anyone watching TV during the ’90s when it seemingly blanketed the airwaves nonstop. Chili’s is hoping that nostalgia will draw renewed interest in the restaurant chain that’s in the midst of a turnaround.Chili’s is in a crowded field of chain restaurants all fighting for customers who aren’t particularly loyal to any one brand. Stale menu off...

Kyed: 13 final thoughts on Patriots’ eventful experience in Germany

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

Nothing was going to save the Patriots’ 2023 season, but if Mac Jones hadn’t thrown off his back foot, put a little bit more velocity on the ball, and lofted his pass five yards deeper on his final passing attempt of Week 10 before getting benched, then at least the team could have looked back on their trip to Frankfurt, Germany with fondness.Alas, Jones’ red-zone, fourth-quarter target to tight end Mike Gesicki was intercepted by safety Julian Blackmon, setting off what should be a very interesting two weeks in Foxboro with a bye before their Week 12 matchup with the Giants.Related ArticlesNew England Patriots | Bill Belichick breaks silence on Patriots’ decision to waive Jack Jones New England Patriots | Patriots-Colts film review: Why the Germany loss may not be rock bottom New England Patriots | Patriots release troubled CB Jack Jones, claim RB JaMychal Hasty New England Patriots | Patriots captains declare belief ...

7 takeaways from the Chicago Bulls’ loss, including a fruitless comeback and the offense scraping by on turnovers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

The Chicago Bulls fought back from a 17-point deficit before dropping a 118-109 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks as the team’s shooting woes persist.Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 35 points to power the Bucks as the Bulls fell to 4-7 with the loss.Here are seven takeaways from the game.1. Another deficit erased after a slow start.The Bulls were ice cold from the floor in the opening minutes of Monday’s loss. They missed their first eight shots of the game and finished the first quarter 6-for-23 (26%) from the field. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine were a combined 0-for-9 from the floor.Scoring seesawed back and forth through the opening frame. The Bucks opened on a 9-0 run, the Bulls answered with an 8-0 run only to be clobbered by another 11-0 Milwaukee run. But the Bulls couldn’t finish enough shots to keep pace. They ended the quarter trailing 35-18.2. A fruitless comeback.After that sluggish start, however, the Bulls snapped back into a competitive form. They dominated ...

Child seriously injured after being hit by vehicle in North York

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

A child has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after they were struck by a vehicle in North York.Emergency crews were called to the intersection of Sentinel Road and Derrydown Road, just south of Finch Avenue, around 8:35 a.m.Police say a boy under the age of 12 was hit by a vehicle in front of a school. He was rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.Police believe the boy has an injured leg.The driver involved remained at the scene.

Finland considers closing border crossings with Russia to stem an increase in asylum-seekers

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

HELSINKI (AP) — The government in Finland is considering whether to close some crossing points on the country’s long border with Russia to prevent people from trying to enter without proper documentation, the Nordic nation’s interior minister and prime minister said Tuesday. Interior Minister Mari Rantanen said the number of migrants at Finland’s southeastern border crossings has risen substantially since August due to what the government suspects is a change in Russia’s border policy and enforcement. Finnish and Russian border authorities have for years cooperated in stopping people without the necessary visas or passports before they can attempt to enter either of the two countries. But Russia has started allowing undocumented travelers to access the border zone and enter crossing stations where they can request asylum in Finland, Rantanen said.“It is clear that these people get help to get to the border. This seems like a very conscious decision,” Prime Mi...

More parks, less money: Advocates say Mexico’s new budget doesn’t add up for natural protected areas

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has rushed to create more protected natural areas at the end of his presidency, but environmentalists accuse it of trying to “greenwash” an image of favoring petroleum in a time of climate change.They note the administration is entering its final year after focusing in its first five on building a giant new oil refinery, propping up the state-owned oil company and legislating against renewable energy producers. And while the government boasts about adding dozens of the new protected areas, it is simultaneously slashing funding for the environmental protection department and reducing the money available to safeguard those areas, the activists say. The new budget for 2024, passed by Mexico’s Congress, cuts funding for the environmental department by $510 million (9 billion pesos) or 11%. It marks the latest cut for López Obrador’s administration, which including the new budget has allocated 35% less...

Germany’s opposition Left Party to dissolve caucus after prominent member launches rival venture

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s opposition Left Party said Tuesday it will dissolve its parliamentary caucus next month after prominent party member Sahra Wagenknecht broke away to found a new party with a more nationalist, migration-skeptic agenda.The Left Party emerged in 2005, bringing together ex-communists from eastern Germany with leftists from the west disgruntled by welfare-state cuts. It was a potent opposition force in its early years, but was later plagued by deep internal divisions.In Germany’s 2021 election, it won only 4.9% of the vote and came close to losing almost all its seats in parliament. Its fortunes haven’t improved since, despite the unpopularity of center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government. Wagenknecht and nine other lawmakers quit the Left Party last month. They plan to formally launch a new party in January. Wagenknecht criticizes “unregulated immigration” and some environmentalists’ plans to combat climate change, positions that contrast w...

BBC says 2 more people have come forward to complain about Russell Brand’s behavior

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

LONDON (AP) — The BBC said Tuesday two more people have come forward to complain about Russell Brand since the broadcaster launched a review into the actor and comedian’s behavior. The BBC was giving an update to its investigation after British media outlets in September published claims by four women that they were sexually assaulted by Brand between 2006 and 2013, at the height of his fame.Brand, 48, has denied the allegations. The comedian worked as a BBC radio presenter from 2006 to 2008. The broadcaster said it recorded a total of five complaints against Brand, including two people who raised complaints and concerns during the time Brand worked there and again after he left the corporation. Another person made a separate complaint after Brand’s departure, and two further people have come forward since the BBC launched its investigation in September. The broadcaster’s statement from Peter Johnston, its director of editorial complaints, did not specify the natur...

Illegal border crossings into the US drop in October after a 3-month streak of increases

Published Wed, 12 Feb 2025 11:52:14 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 14% in October from a month earlier, U.S. authorities said Tuesday, ending a three-month streak of big increases.U.S. officials highlighted the resumption of deportation flights to Venezuela on Oct. 18, shortly after Venezuelans replaced Mexicans as the largest nationality appearing at the border. Customs and Border Protection said Venezuelans were stopped 65% fewer times in the second half of October compared with the second half of September, though that figure includes Venezuelans who made asylum appointments through a mobile app as well as those who crossed the border illegally.Arrests for illegal crossings totaled 188,778 for all nationalities in October, down from 218,763 in September, which was the second-highest month on record. Arrests had more than doubled over the previous three months as migrants and smugglers adjusted to new asylum regulations introduced in May.“We continue to enhance our border security ...