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A worker drives near freight trains and shipping containers in a Union Pacific Intermodal Terminal rail yard on November 21, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. Mario Tama/Getty Images The House took the first step towards averting a rail strike, passing legislation to impose an agreement. But members also voted to pass a measure that would give workers 7 paid sick days. Both measures now have to pass the Senate, where sick days might encounter resistance. Congress has taken the first step towards heading off a rail strike and pushing through a new contract for union rail workers — and, through legislative maneuvering, passed a measure that would give workers seven days of sick leave. A vote to push through a tentative agreement — and thus avert a potentially economy-rattling strike — passed with substantial bipartisan support. 79 Republicans joined 211 Democrats in voting to pass the measure.  The additional measure that would tack on more sick days for workers had much closer

Apple rolled out iOS 16.1.2 on Wednesday, citing updates involving user security. Apple hasn’t yet detailed the nature of the security updates , as the company doesn’t disclose security issues until after they’ve been investigated or patched. The update also includes improved compatibility with wireless carriers, as well as crash detection optimizations for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro models. Crash detection , which was announced at Apple’s September event , is a new feature that triggers Emergency SOS if it suspects you’ve been in a crash. While this feature could be life-saving in certain situations, users have reported issues in which crash detection is falsely triggered while riding roller coasters . Apple doesn’t outright name the roller coaster issue in its patch notes, but it’s a bug that’s been on adrenaline-seeking customers’ minds. To update to the latest version of iOS, navigate to your iPhone’s settings. Then, click “general.” At the top of your screen, you should see a

Former AMC CEO Christina Spade and actor Bob Odenkirk. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images AMC Networks CEO Christina Spade stepped down after only three months in her new role. She is entitled to a severance payout of at least $10.5 million. The announcement of her departure came hours before AMC announced plans to cut 20% of its US staff. AMC Networks CEO Christina Spade is entitled to receive a payout of at least $10.5 million, in addition to various awards and restricted stock units, after stepping down from her role just three months after she was appointed to lead the company, according to SEC filings. A November 28 filing details that Spade would receive the severance benefits laid out in her employment agreement. According to that employment agreement, Spade is entitled to "a cash severance payment in an amount equal to not less than two times the sum of Ms. Spade's annual base salary and annual target bonus as in effect at the time of termination of employment.&

New York City interior designer Bennett Leifer said statement headboards are in and overusing white is out. Bjorn Wallander (left), Getty Images NYC interior designer Bennett Leifer outlined what's in and what's out right now. Textured walls, hand-painted wallpaper, and bold headboards create subtle luxury that people want. But the all-white look and overdressed windows have fallen out of favor. People across New York City, the Hamptons, the Hudson Valley, and Connecticut  seeking whimsical yet sophisticated interiors call on Bennett Leifer. Leifer, who founded his New York City-based interior design firm nearly a decade ago, has his finger on the pulse of the design whims and wants of his clients, and those waning in popularity.  He spoke with Insider about what his clients are seeking in their homes now, and the tired trends they're ready to leave behind. In: Handmade and unexpected touches Handmade details are in. Just look at these two rooms with hand-pai

We’re just about one week away from achieving liftoff for TC Sessions: Space — a full day jam-packed with the latest space science, tech and trends. Join us on December 6 in Los Angeles to hear from and connect with the startups, researchers, investors and technologists forging the future of space. A word (or two or three) about our partner companies. They play a vital role at TechCrunch events. As subject-matter experts, they show up and present sessions with relevant content designed to help early-stage founders succeed. And yes, we’re about to showcase one of them. Beat the price hike: The moon is not made of cheese, but if you act quickly enough, you’ll save a chunk of cheddar. Buy a $199 pass before December 2 at 11:59 pm (PST) . The price goes up to $495 at midnight, December 2. Today, we’re excited to highlight Antaris, a cloud-based satellite software platform dedicated to simplifying satellite design and deployment while reducing cost and time-to-orbit. Be in the room

Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Advisor of Allianz and Former Chairman of President Obama's Global Development Council, speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills Reuters There's not enough evidence an incoming recession will be short and shallow, Mohamed El-Erian warned. El-Erian noted that mild recession calls were similar to the ways people dismissed rising inflation last year. "I hope we don't end up in a recession, but if we do, there isn't enough evidence to suggest it's short and shallow." Predictions for a coming recession are too complacent, and there's isn't enough evidence that a coming downturn will be short and shallow, top economist Mohamed El-Erian warned. "People are rushing to say, 'don't worry. If we end up in a recession it will be short and shallow.' I say keep an open mind," the chief economic advisor of Allianz said in an interview with CNBC on Monday.  El-Erian poi

This time two years ago, I changed up my annual gift guide feature’s focus from travel to working from home. After all, very few of us were doing much traveling at the time. I planned to switch back as the world reopened; it’s clear now, however, that for many of us, there is no going back to the before times. The pandemic has had a number of lasting impacts in our lives, including how – and where – we work. But the transition from the office to home requires more than simply choosing not to get on that train every morning. Creating a home office is a deliberate act. At its center is building a space where it’s possible to be every bit as productive in the absence of in-face meetings and awkward break room conversations. You need to build a place that will sufficiently separate work life from the personal for eight to 10 hours a day. Here’s a handy gift guide for the person in life who needs a little extra push into that – or perhaps requires a refresh on some of the gear they pur

  Doing PR as a small business doesn't need to be hard — or expensive. Alistair Berg/Getty Images Hiring someone to handle your small business' PR can be costly and ineffective. Doing your own PR starts with setting realistic and clear goals from the start. Then figure out where your audience is and what expertise you can lend to content creators. This article is part of " Marketing for Small Business ," a series exploring the basics of marketing strategy for SBOs to earn new customers and grow their business. From the outside, it can feel like there's a lot of gatekeeping in the media world. So when small-business owners are thinking about getting press as part of their marketing strategy, it's understandable that many look to hire someone with existing connections in the field.  The bad news is that can be cost prohibitive for many small businesses. The good news is that it's totally doable for founders to manage their own PR until they h

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced some notable new natural language querying capabilities that enable non-analysts to forecast future business outcomes. By way of a quick recap, AWS first introduced its QuickSight business intelligence service back in 2015 , allowing customers to visualize their data through dashboards and reports without requiring the technical prowess of a developer. Fast-forward to 2020, and AWS introduced natural language queries to the mix via QuickSight Q , enabling users to find answers simply by typing plain-English questions into a search bar, such as “ show me this month’s sales by segment .” Todays’ announcement builds on that, by serving answers to future-gazing questions. ML-powered forecasting with Q , as AWS CEO Adam Selipsky referred to the new feature on stage at AWS re:Invent today, allows users to view business performance forecasts without involving any analysts or data scientists. All they have to do is enter “ forecast ” or “ show me a

US gas prices have been falling as oil prices retreat. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images) US gas prices fell to their lowest since February and could drop below $3 a gallon, GasBuddy said.  The fuel cost $3.52 a gallon on average in the US on Monday, down about 12 cents on a week ago, it said. "Don't be in a rush to fill up," its analyst Patrick De Haan said, predicting more declines are coming US gasoline prices have dropped to their lowest level since February and could fall further to below $3 a gallon before Christmas, according to GasBuddy .  The national average price of gas at the pump stood at $3.52 a gallon on Monday, down about 12 cents on a week ago, the fuel cost tracking company said in a blog post . American drivers from coast to coast have seen costs decline for three weeks in a row, it said. "All the metrics look very positive for motorists as this week is likely to continue seeing falling gasoline prices, with many areas f

It’s me! Hi! (I’m not the problem, just the podcast’s host, here to bring you the latest greatest in startup and tech news this fine Monday morning). Welcome back to Equity , the podcast about the business of startups, where we unpack the numbers and nuance behind the headlines. And for those of you who hummed the first sentence of this post, extra points to you. I’m starting things off this week as a test run before Alex heads on paternity leave. We have lots to get to, so shake off the holiday feels and let’s remember how this ecosystem works? Here’s what we got to:  The markets are broadly down, due to COVID-19 protests breaking out in China.  Blockfi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Our crypto reporter Jacquelyn Melinek has more on what happened – and she explains just how intertwined this universe is. I’ll also get to notes I took from our recent crypto conference and how the reality may be looking like Web 2.5 before it looks like Web 3.0. We also talk about Amazon’s

There have been protests in every major city — including Beijing, the Chinese capital. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images Chinese citizens across the country are protesting the government's "zero COVID" policy.  Experts said that walking back some policies could quell protests but won't be enough to stop them. One expert said the protests are "tricky" for Chinese authorities because they are so widespread.  As China doubles down on its "zero COVID" policies, citizens in major cities have taken to the streets to protest the strict lockdowns three years since the coronavirus's first outbreak. Two international politics experts told Insider that while reversing some zero COVID policies could ease protestors, it won't be enough to send them home for good.  Chong Ja Ian, a professor at the National University of Singapore's political science department, told Insider that the protests are "very tricky" for Chinese authoritie

Cofactr is a logistics and supply chain tech company that provides scalable warehousing and procurement for electronics manufacturers. The company today announced it raised a $6 million round of seed funding, to “lead the next generation of agile hardware materials management.” The company raised on a SAFE note with a $25 million cap. We spoke to the company’s team to learn more about its vision of the future. Cofactr addresses a suite of challenges for electronics producers through pre-manufacturing, third-party logistics services and supply chain automation. By providing these products as a unified strategic solution, the goal is to enable hardware manufacturers the ability to get to production volume without investing in the specialized facilities or headcount historically needed to manage electronic components. “Both Phil [Gulley, the company’s CRO and co-founder] and I are driven by the desire to solve problems. Before Cofactr, we were working on the engineering and solutions s

Right on time for its annual post-Thanksgiving re:Invent festivities in Las Vegas, AWS last night announced its “AWS Digital Sovereignty Pledge” — and before you click away, let me just point out that this is definitely more important than the prosaic name implies. As nations across the globe introduce legislation that governs how and where businesses can keep data on their local users, the large clouds either have to offer attractive solutions or run the risk of having their customers move to local clouds. Microsoft, with Purview, and Google, with Dataplex, also offer data governance tools, but none of them have gone quite as far as AWS in making digital sovereignty a core pillar of their cloud strategy. Matt Garman, AWS’s senior vice president of Sales, Marketing and Global Services, notes that giving customers control over their data has always been a priority for AWS, but with constantly shifting and evolving legal requirements, managing all of this has become increasingly comple