Target to keep stores closed on Thanksgiving for good
“You don’t have to wonder whether this is the last Thanksgiving you’ll spend with family and friends for a while,” Target CEO Brian Cornell wrote in a note to employees.
Business
This archive collects stories about businesses making measurable progress on social, environmental, and economic challenges. From small enterprises to global companies, these 661 articles highlight what the private sector is doing right — and what’s possible when profit and purpose align.
Apple to start backing self-service technology repair
The program, Self Service Repair, will include tools, manuals, and Apple parts for users to fix their own products when something goes awry. It is set to launch in 2022.
New ATM helps Kenyans switch from charcoal to eco-friendly fuel
The blue ATMs from the startup Koko dispense bioethanol made from sugarcane. As of now, there are 700 Koko ATMs across Nairobi.
Major French dictionary adds non-binary pronouns for the first time
An entry for iel and iels was added to the dictionary Le Robert that says: “Third person subject personal pronoun – singular and plural – used to refer to a person of any gender.”
Pfizer to allow developing nations to make its treatment pill
U.S. drug company Pfizer will allow its experimental Covid-19 treatment pill to be made and sold in 95 developing nations. The deal could make the treatment available to 53% of the world’s population.
Brian Michael Smith becomes the first trans man to be named one of People’s Sexiest Men Alive
In 2019, he became the first out Black transgender man cast in a regular role on a network series with 911: Lone Star.
Largest-ever psilocybin trial finds the psychedelic is effective in treating serious depression
Overall, 29.1% of patients in the highest-dose group were in remission three weeks after treatment, compared to 7.6% of those in the control group.
Facebook to stop targeting ads based on race, sexual orientation, and politics
Facebook said it decided to make these changes to “address feedback from civil rights experts, policymakers, and other stakeholders on the importance of preventing advertisers from abusing the targeting options we make available.”
Alaska Airlines eliminates plastic water cups and bottles on board
Alaska is the first major airline to eliminate plastic cups and estimates that the measure will save 1.8 million pounds of single use plastic waste per year.
World’s first wind turbine designed to harness typhoon energy erected in The Philippines
The Japan-based Challenergy’s “Magnus Wind Turbine” features vertical blades spinning around a horizontal axis rather than the long blades spinning from a vertical axis in normal wind turbines.