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Sports cards have gone virtual, and in a big way

Maybe the Luka Doncic rookie basketball card that recently sold at auction for a record $4.6 million was a bit rich for your blood. Perhaps you’d be interested in a more affordable alternative — say, a virtual card of the Dallas Mavericks forward currently listed for a mere $150,000? Not long ago, there’s no way […]

'Lighting a fuse' Amazon vote may spark more union pushes

What happens inside a warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, could have major implications not just for the country’s second-largest employer but the labor movement at large. Organizers are pushing for some 6,000 Amazon workers there to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union on the promise it will lead to better working conditions, better pay […]

How two friends made art history buying a $70M digital work

It took a few minutes for Vignesh Sundaresan and Anand Venkateswaran to realize that they’d parted with $69.3 million for a digital artwork stored in a JPEG file, coincidentally securing their place in art history. “We weren’t sure we won,” said Venkateswaran, describing the nerve-racking final moments of the online auction for a collage of […]

Italy: Teen in hijab aims to be 'Afro-influencer' on TikTok

In Milan’s chic Victor Emmanuel II Gallery, a spacious mall that would be jammed with shoppers were it not for the pandemic, a young Black woman wearing a violet hijab and matching lipstick propped up her phone and moved her hips to a tinny-sounding beat coming from the device. Aida Diouf Mbengue, 19, was recording […]

Microsoft to start bringing workers back to headquarters

Microsoft will begin bringing workers back to its suburban Seattle global headquarters on March 29 as the tech giant starts to reopen more facilities it largely shuttered during the coronavirus pandemic. In a post Monday on the company’s corporate blog, Executive Vice President Kurt DelBene said Microsoft has been monitoring local health data and decided […]

Australian police boss suggests app to prove sexual consent

A senior Australian policeman suggested on Thursday a phone app be developed to document sexual consent in a bid to improve conviction rates in sex crime cases. New South Wales state Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said dating apps have brought couples together and the same technology could also provide clarity on the question of consent. […]

'It's exhausting.' A year of distance learning wears thin

At first, many schools announced it would last only a couple weeks. A year later, the unplanned experiment with distance learning continues for thousands of students who have yet to set foot back in classrooms. Comfortable homes and private tutors have made it easier for those with access. Expectations are higher at some schools than […]

Black Lives Matter backs Amazon union push in Alabama

Organizers trying to form the first union at an Amazon warehouse are getting support from another big name: Black Lives Matter. The group plans to hold an event Saturday near the warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, making it the latest high-profile supporter of the union push, which is the biggest in Amazon’s nearly 30-year history. Most […]