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Rainmaker Technology’s bid to deploy cloud-seeding flares on small drones is being met by resistance from the airline pilots union, which has urged the Federal Aviation Administration to consider denying the startup’s request unless it meets stricter safety guidelines. The FAA’s decision will signal how the regulator views weather modification by unmanned aerial systems going forward. Rainmaker’s bet on small drones hangs in the balance. The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) told the FAA that Rainmaker’s petition “fails to demonstrate an equivalent level of safety” and poses “an extreme safety risk.” However, Rainmaker CEO Augustus Doricko said an email that…

by Lacey Pfalz Last updated: 9:50 AM ET, Fri September 12, 2025 The World, Residences at Sea is the largest privately owned residential yacht, and it’s sailing into next year with the 2026 Journey—to 90 destinations in 20 countries across six continents. The World’s new itinerary will begin in Tasmania, Australia and end the year at sea in Singapore, often visiting destinations over multiple days in port, so residents can explore and immerse themselves deeply in the places they visit.  “Every destination on The World’s 2026 Journey has been developed directly with Resident input after months of thoughtful discussion and collaboration,”…

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The union that represents tens of thousands of actors and other entertainment and media professionals has elected Sean Astin as its new president.On Friday, SAG-AFTRA elected Astin — an actor who appeared in “The Lord of the Rings,” “Stranger Things” and “Rudy” — to succeed Fran Drescher as its president. Astin is the son of the late Academy Award-winning actress Patty Duke and John Astin, who starred in the 1960s TV series “The Addams Family.”Sean Astin defeated Chuck Slavin in a 79% to 21% vote. Michelle Hurd was elected secretary-treasurer. Patty Duke, Sean Astin’s mother, served…

Hike, once one of India’s most valuable startups with unicorn status, has become the latest casualty of New Delhi’s recent real-money gaming ban, with the company — led by Kavin Bharti Mittal, son of Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal — now shutting down. On Saturday, Hike founder Mittal (pictured above) said that the startup’s U.S. business, which launched nine months ago, was “off to a strong start.” But he said scaling it globally would require “a full recap, a reset that is not the best use of capital or time.” Initially launched as an instant messaging app rivaling WhatsApp in…

by Lacey Pfalz Last updated: 9:00 AM ET, Fri September 12, 2025 Disney Cruise Line’s first Asia ship has been delayed by three months, postponed until March 10, 2026. The Disney Adventure, which was expected to debut December 15 from Singapore, started sea trials last week in Wismar, Germany.  According to Bloomberg, Disney did not explain the reason for the delay, though at least 25 sailings, carrying around 6,700 passengers each, have been impacted by the three-month delay. “As we work on the final touches to bring the Disney Adventure to our guests, we’ve encountered unexpected delays in the shipbuilding process,” Joe…

President Donald Trump made countering immigration one of his flagship issues during last year’s presidential campaign, promising an unprecedented number of deportations.  In his first eight months in office, that promise turned into around 350,000 deportations, a figure that includes deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (around 200,000), Customs and Border Protection (more than 132,000), and almost 18,000 self-deportations, according to CNN.   ICE has taken center stage in Trump’s mass deportation campaign, raiding homes, workplaces, and public parks in search of undocumented immigrants. To aid its efforts, the ICE has at its disposal several technologies capable of identifying and surveilling…

When Seth Winterroth left his job at GE Ventures to help launch Eclipse in 2015, robotics was on his mind. Or more specifically, the number of early-stage robotics startups that were struggling to launch due to lack of interest. “These are teams that had just finished their postdocs at Waterloo, or CMU, or MIT and were starting robotics companies, and the refrain that I continually heard from the startups was, ‘Hey, we’re having a really hard time raising institutional venture capital,’” Winterroth told TechCrunch. “At the time in Silicon Valley, most venture capital was going into the very mature application…

Thanks to a pledge to unbundle its corporate messaging app Teams from its productivity suites, Microsoft has managed to slip unscathed through a major antitrust investigation by the European Commission that could have resulted in massive fines for the tech giant. The Commission on Friday okayed Microsoft’s concessions to address the EU’s competition concerns over the company including Teams along with the rest of its Office productivity suite for free, concluding a multi-year investigation that was sparked by complaints from rival office messaging app Slack in 2020. Microsoft has promised that for the next seven years, it will provide Microsoft…

A Wawa store is seen on May 29, 2024 in Washington, DC. Kent Nishimura | Getty ImagesFast-food restaurants are losing breakfast customers to convenience stores.Morning meal traffic to fast-food chains rose 1% in the three months ended in July, while visits to food-forward convenience stores climbed 9% in the same period, according to market research firm Circana.”Over the long run, convenience stores have taken share, really at foodservice overall, but the morning meal has been their strong suit,” David Portalatin, Circana senior vice president and foodservice industry advisor, told CNBC, noting the trend has largely been driven by what the…

One of the world’s most luxurious airlines is changing its rules for booking first-class tickets with children.Dubai-based carrier Emirates recently updated its terms and conditions with new restrictions on redeeming frequent flier miles for first-class tickets with young children.  “Please note that passengers aged 8 years old and below are ineligible for First Class Emirates Classic Rewards and Upgrade Rewards,” says the airline’s new policy, which went into effect on August 15 and was first reported by aviation blog One Mile at a Time.The change means that children 8 and under are no longer allowed to fly with their parents in the lavish…