VW, Audi dealers in Ill. file protest over automaker's changes to warranty work payments
The protest is the latest chapter between VW and Audi dealers in Illinois and VW Group of America regarding warranty work payments.
U.S. Steel CEO ‘extraordinarily confident' Nippon deal will close despite political scrutiny
U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt expressed confidence the proposed acquisition of the storied U.S. company by Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel will go through despite political opposition.
Feedback: More than half of new-car buyers want introduction to service department, but most don't get it, survey shows
While 51 percent of new-vehicle buyers said it was ‘very important’ to meet someone from the service department, only 37 percent did, according to a recent survey.
Russia-linked actors are seeding disinformation about Harris as election nears, Microsoft says
By ALI SWENSON
NEW YORK (AP) — The video was seen millions of times across social media but some viewers were suspicious: It featured a young Black woman who claimed Vice President Kamala Harris left her paralyzed in a hit-and-run accident in San Francisco 13 years ago.
In an emotional retelling from a wheelchair, the alleged victim said she “cannot remain silent anymore” and lamented that her childhood had “ended too soon.”
Immediately after the video was posted on Sept. 2, social media users pointed out reasons to be wary. The purported news channel it came from, San Francisco’s KBSF-TV, didn’t exist. A website for the channel set up just a week earlier contained plagiarized articles from real news outlets. The woman’s X-ray images shown in the video were taken from online medical journals. And the video and the text story on the website spelled the alleged victim’s name differently.
The caution was warranted, according to a new Microsoft threat intelligence report, which confirms the fabricated tale was disinformation from a Russia-linked troll farm.
Orlando-based Hawkers filing for bankruptcy but keeping restaurants open
Orlando-based restaurant Hawkers announced this week it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to protect itself from what the company called a “hyper-aggressive” lender.
Hawkers, which serves Asian street food, operates 15 restaurants in seven states and said all locations will remain open and continue normal operations during bankruptcy proceedings.
The company entered into a “debt capital agreement” in early 2023, borrowing $23 million to grow the company nationally. Hawkers was started by four friends who opened the first Hawkers on Mills Avenue in Orlando in 2011.
Scott Shuker, the restaurant’s bankruptcy attorney, said Hawkers has never missed a loan payment. But in the last 60 days, he said, the lending company revealed its intentions to take over the restaurant by replacing its leadership.
The lender is ABC Funding, LLC, acting as an administrative agent for Summit Partners Subordinated Debt Fund IV, based out of Boston, Shuker said. The lending company could not be reached for comment.