Things To Do In SW Florida

Five Central Florida restaurants shut down the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1, according to data from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

Orange

Katherine Catering Services #2 at 4880 Distribution Court in Orlando shut down on Jan. 31. Inspectors found nine violations, two of which were a high priority for an employee working without washing their hands and food held at the wrong temperatures. A second inspection on Feb. 3 found one violation, a time extension for the employee working without washing their hands. The restaurant met inspection standards.

Osceola

El Punto Del Coro at 5407 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway in Kissimmee shut down on Jan. 31. Inspectors found one high-priority violation for not having any potable running water. A second inspection the same day found 10 violations and issued a time extension for food being held at the wrong temperatures. The restaurant reopened but a follow-up inspection is required.

Seminole

Cafe Perks at 724 S. U.S. Highway 17-92 in Longwood shut down on Jan. 30. Inspectors found 10 violations, three of which were high priorities. Those violations included a dishmachine chlorine sanitizer not at the proper strength, raw sewage inside the restaurant and roach activity. A second inspection the same day found five violations but none was a high priority. The restaurant met inspection standards. read more

By BYRON TAU, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The website of the Chinese artificial intelligence company DeepSeek, whose chatbot became the most downloaded app in the United States, has computer code that could send some user login information to a Chinese state-owned telecommunications company that has been barred from operating in the United States, security researchers say.

The web login page of DeepSeek’s chatbot contains heavily obfuscated computer script that when deciphered shows connections to computer infrastructure owned by China Mobile, a state-owned telecommunications company. The code appears to be part of the account creation and user login process for DeepSeek.

In its privacy policy, DeepSeek acknowledged storing data on servers inside the People’s Republic of China. But its chatbot appears more directly tied to the Chinese state than previously known through the link revealed by researchers to China Mobile. The U.S. has claimed there are close ties between China Mobile and the Chinese military as justification for placing limited sanctions on the company. DeepSeek and China Mobile did not respond to emails seeking comment. read more

The effects of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton put a damper on Disney theme parks’ attendance and income in the final stretch of 2024, according to the company’s quarterly financial report released Wednesday.

Operating income — that’s profit minus costs of regular operation — was down 5% for the domestic theme parks segment, including Walt Disney World, in the final three months of last year.  A 28% gain by the international parks helped the segment, which also includes Disney Cruise Line, maintain a flat quarter.

Walt Disney Co.’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

The company said a decline in attendance due to Helene, which struck in late September, and Milton, which hit Florida in October, affected revenue, though it was still up 2% over the same quarter a year earlier. Milton prompted a one-day shutdown of Disney World and canceled one sailing of the Disney Wish cruise ship out of Port Canaveral.

But Disney also reported increased guest spending at U.S. parks for the quarter. Domestic theme park revenue was reported as $6.43 billion. read more

By ZEN SOO, AP Business Writer

HONG KONG (AP) — The U.S. Postal Service is reversing course a day after placing a ban on all inbound packages from China and Hong Kong.

The post office had announced Tuesday that it would no longer accept parcels from the China and Hong Kong after the U.S. imposed an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods and ended a customs exception that allowed small value parcels to enter the U.S. without paying tax.

The Postal Service reversed course Wednesday but gave no reason. It said it would work with Customs and Border Protection to implement a collection process for the new China tariffs to avoid delivery disruptions.

The post office pointed to the short prepared statement on the reversal when asked for more details about the reversal Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The ban had the potential to create massive disruptions for online shopping platforms like Shein and Temu, popular with younger shoppers in the U.S. for cheap clothing and other products, usually shipped directly from China. read more