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An alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is suing Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. in New York, claiming they financially supported his sex trafficking operations for years.

The woman, identified as “Jane Doe,” filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other victims Wednesday against Bank of America in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. A similar case was filed concurrently against Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

The suits are brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, federal anti-sex trafficking statutes, and common-law tort claims under New York law.

The lawsuits allege that the banks provided the late financier Epstein and his associates with essential financial services and lent them an air of legitimacy, which aided their international sex-trafficking operation. In exchange, the banks benefited from their relationship with Epstein, the lawsuits allege.

The lawsuit against Bank of America alleges that the bank knew of Epstein’s activities but “chose profits over protecting victims.” The victims accuse the bank of failing to file required reports that could have alerted authorities to Epstein’s crimes. read more

The impact of Spirit Airlines’ campaign to streamline itself to profitability is extending more deeply into the ranks of the troubled carrier as management has informed employees that up to 365 more pilots may be furloughed in early 2026 along with non-union support workers at corporate headquarters in Dania Beach and elsewhere.

The news was delivered to employees Wednesday in a note from John Bendoraitis, the chief operating officer. The company affirmed the moves in a statement issued Friday.

“As part of our ongoing restructuring, we are taking additional steps to align staffing across our organization with our previously announced capacity reduction and smaller operating fleet size,” Spirit said in the statement.

“Over the past several weeks, we’ve made a number of difficult decisions reflecting the previously announced 25% capacity reduction and smaller operating fleet,” Bendoraitis told employees in the note bearing his letterhead.  “The effects of that reality are being felt across our teams.” read more

KISSIMMEE — Gaylord Palms Resort is entering its “Ice!” age again.

Work on the elaborate holiday ice-sculpture event is underway, as artisans from Harbin, China, chip away at big blocks of ice to form 11 colorful scenes from TV’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” They use chainsaws, scrapers and assorted sharp objects, which were all apparent during a Friday media preview.

It’s the first time “Rudolph” has been presented at the annual Central Florida event. Although it has been seen at other Gaylord hotel properties, the icy exhibition has undergone a complete redesign that is making its debut this year, said Niko Nickolaou, senior director of special events and experiences for the Gaylord resorts.

“We really invested in taking the design, elevating it to something completely different,” Nickolaou said. “People want to go be immersed in things. This is really immersive. It’s interactive. It has some incredible photo moments.”

One photo op includes popping up between icy versions of Rudolph and Hermey, the dentist-aspiring elf. The walk-through displays start off with a scene representing the storm of the century, as seen in the 1964 TV special, and also have figures to illustrate “reindeer games” and the Island of Misfit Toys. read more

The U.S. economy has largely weathered historically high tariffs so far this year, but a new study says tariffs will hit Americans in 2026.

The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said it expects the U.S. economy to grow 1.8% this year, and 1.5% next year. It mostly based its prediction for slower growth on tariff effects.

The organization estimated that the overall effective U.S. tariff rate on imports rose to 19.5% at the end of August from 15.4% in mid-May, reaching its highest level since 1933. Tariffs have yet to greatly hit the U.S. consumer, the organization said, because of companies using up inventories.

Yet many economists were wrong when the Trump tariffs were announced and most predicted a recession this year. “History tells us that free markets can cope with wars, plagues and revolutions,” wrote financial columnist Matthew Lynn for The Washington Post. “It was always slightly absurd to argue that 20% levies on Vietnamese-made Halloween masks would be the end of the world.” read more

By MICHELLE CHAPMAN

Nestlé is cutting 16,000 jobs globally as the Swiss food giant cuts costs as part of its efforts to revive its financial performance.

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Nestlé, which makes Nescafé, KitKats, pet foods and many other well-known consumer brands, said Thursday that the job cuts will take place over the next two years. The Swiss company also said that it is raising targeted cost cuts to 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.76 billion) by the end of next year, up from a planned 2.5 billion Swiss francs ($3.13 billion).

It has been a turbulent year for the company, based Vevey, Switzerland. Last month, Nestle dismissed CEO Laurent Freixe after an investigation into an undisclosed relationship with a subordinate. read more