The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a summons to Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, indicted on U.S. bribery allegations related to a bombshell federal indictment against him, a court filing showed.

The SEC is suing the head of the Adani Group and his nephew Sagar Adani, alleging they engaged in hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to help an Adani company while “falsely touting the company’s compliance with antibribery principles and laws in connection with a $750 million bond offering.”

The summons requires an answer within 21 days, according to the filing dated Wednesday in federal court in the Eastern District of New York. The SEC suit seeks unspecified monetary penalties and restrictions on the Adanis from serving as officers of listed companies.

Adani Group representatives did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on Sunday.

The group has denied the criminal charges as “baseless”. The group CFO said the indictment is linked to one contract of Adani Green Energy that makes up some 10% of its business, and that no other firms in the conglomerate were accused of wrongdoing.

Federal prosecutors issued arrest warrants for Gautam and Sagar Adani, alleging they participated in a $265 million scheme to bribe Indian officials to secure power-supply deals.

Authorities said Adani and seven other defendants, including his nephew Sagar, agreed to bribe Indian government officials to obtain contracts expected to yield $2 billion of profit over 20 years, and develop India’s largest solar power plant project.

The crisis is the second in two years to hit the ports-to-power conglomerate founded by Adani, 62, one of the world’s richest people. The fallout was felt immediately, as billions of dollars were wiped off the market value of Adani Group companies and Kenya’s president canceled a massive airport project with the group.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will provide rebates to residents if President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration does away with a federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

In a news release issued Monday, Newsom said he would restart the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which provided financial incentives on more than 590,000 vehicles before it was phased out late 2023.

‘We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,’ Newsom said. ‘We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.’

The federal rebates on new and used electric vehicles were implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. When Trump’s second term in office begins next year, he could work with Congress to change the rules around those rebates. Those potential changes could limit the federal rebates, including by reducing the amount of money available or limiting who is eligible.

Limiting federal subsidies on electric vehicle purchases would hurt many American automakers, including Ford, General Motors and the EV startup Rivian. Tesla, which also builds its automobiles in the United States, would take a smaller hit since that company currently sells more EVs and has a higher profit margin than any other EV manufacturer.

Newsom also announced earlier this month that he will convene a special session in December ‘to protect California values,’ including fundamental civil rights and reproductive rights, that he said ‘are under attack by this incoming administration.’

‘Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,’ Newsom said on X on Nov. 7.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time California will be taking action against the Trump’s administration concerning clean transportation legislation.

In 2019, California and 22 other states sued his administration for revoking its ability to set standards for greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for vehicles, The Associated Press reported.

California sued the Trump administration over 100 times during his first term, primarily on matters including gun control, health care, education and immigration, the Los Angeles Times reported.

If you’re a Microsoft 365 user, this Monday may have been a little more frustrating for you than usual.

The product family of software announced early Monday morning that it is investigating an issue impacting Exchange Online and Microsoft Teams users. Microsoft 365 applications, including Outlook and Teams, are heavily relied on by many places of work around the world.

In an afternoon update, Microsoft 365 said it is “facing delays” in its effort to address the issues.

‘We understand the significant impact of this event to your businesses and are working to provide relief as soon as possible,’ Microsoft said on X.

Downdetector, an online platform that monitors website and service outages, says user reports indicate issues with Microsoft 365, Outlook and Teams. Problem reports for the services seemed to spike just before 1 p.m.

Users posted in the comment sections on the Downdetector website to share the issues they’ve been facing this work day.

‘It is almost 2:00 PM EST. I am still unable to get access to Outlook,’ one commenter wrote in the Microsoft 365 comment section.

Another commenter from Michigan said their Outlook account has been down since around 10 a.m. EST.

This is developing story. Please check back in for updates.

Air travelers face a host of headaches on their journeys: slow security lines, long waits for plush lounges, the threat of delays or cancellations — and the airport Starbucks.

Many travelers, flight crews and even airport employees have at some point encountered long wait times for their Starbucks cappuccinos, cold brews and egg bites.

“They need to have a better system,” said Coresa Barrino, a Starbucks patron at New York’s LaGuardia Airport Terminal B earlier this month who said she had been waiting 10 minutes and counting for her coffee. The nursing assistant, who was taking a flight back to Charlotte, North Carolina, said the wait when she buys her coffee at a Starbucks in Charlotte is about two minutes.

The long waits have caught the attention of the coffee chain’s new CEO, Brian Niccol, who joined Starbucks from Chipotle in September, pledging to win back customers and reverse the company’s sales slump.

Niccol told investors he thinks that licensed locations, such as those inside Target stores or airports, are interested in following the company’s strategy of “getting back to Starbucks.”

“When I think about the airports and such, there’s such a huge opportunity for us to simplify some of the execution there so that we get people the great throughput that they want so they can get on their way,” Niccol said on the company’s quarterly conference call Oct. 30.

Starbucks’ airport location staff — and company technology — will be put to the test this week during some of the busiest travel days of the year. The Transportation Security Administration forecast a record number of travelers during Thanksgiving week and said Sunday, Dec. 1, could be the busiest day of the year, with more than 3 million people screened at U.S. airports.

The surge in air travel, especially during peak times such as Thanksgiving, has led to congestion in airport security lines, in lounges and at gates — problems that airlines and the federal government are trying to fix. For the aviation industry, bottlenecks at airport Starbucks are just another sign of soaring demand and overcrowded airports.

A record 1.05 billion people boarded airplanes going either to, from or between U.S. airports in 2023, narrowly topping the total in 2019, before the pandemic, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Starbucks has recently struggled. Its sales fell for the third straight quarter in the period ended Sept. 30, as consumers pushed back against higher prices and ignored initiatives such as discounts and energy drinks aimed at bringing customers back. Same-store sales in the U.S. declined by 6% from a year earlier.

In late October, Niccol unveiled plans aimed at improving customers’ experiences and reviving the company’s sales, from bringing back condiment bars, to eliminating surcharges for dairy alternatives and cutting down the menu.

Cutting wait time is a key goal: He wants to trim service times down to four minutes, which would shrink long lines and improve the customer experience.

And while Starbucks started rolling out mobile order and pay to its airport locations in 2022, the change can sometimes add to the confusion and chaos at the cafe counter instead of resolving it. Plus, some travelers might not be regular Starbucks customers who already have the app downloaded.

Improving the coffee chain’s airport outposts could boost both sales and the brand’s reputation during a time when it needs it most. Even the customers Starbucks has lost might visit an airport location while they’re traveling.

With travelers returning in droves after the pandemic, it gives Starbucks and other restaurant chains a chance to boost sales.

Concessions contribute about 4% of U.S. airport revenue annually, according to the latest available Federal Aviation Administration data, but they’re an important feature to many passengers, who have limited time — and, often, energy — to fuel up before a flight.

At Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, revenue from food and beverage outlets is growing faster than passenger numbers, said Jennifer Simkins, the airport’s assistant vice president of concessions. The airport has become the world’s third-busiest for passengers, up from 10th place in 2019, according to Airports Council International.

Airlines are also packing more seats on their aircraft and in some cases are flying larger jets.

More passengers per plane means restaurants can become crowded during peak times with more customers waiting to be served and space limited, said Ursula Cassinerio, an assistant vice president at Moody’s Ratings who covers airports.

She noted that many airports have been undergoing major renovations, if not building new terminals. That means “more opportunities for revenue if you have more square footage for retail and restaurants,” she said.

The 25 busiest airports in the U.S. have an average of 80 food and beverage brands as options for travelers, according to data from market research firm Technomic.

A challenge for Starbucks is that licensees — not Starbucks itself — operate its airport locations.

Starbucks opened its first airport location with licensee HMSHost in 1991 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, which serves Starbucks’ hometown.

For nearly three decades, HMSHost operated the chain’s airport locations through an exclusive deal with Starbucks and gradually grew its airport footprint to roughly 400 outposts.

But in 2020, HMSHost ended the deal, giving the operator flexibility to offer more coffee options to airports.

While HMSHost still operates the overwhelming majority of Starbucks’ airport cafes, more operators, such as Paradies Lagardere and OTG, have since taken a swing at it.

HMSHost, Paradies Lagardere and OTG did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

“Airport locations are tricky because they can make good money, but operationally, at times, they can be very challenging,” said Mark Kalinowski, restaurant analyst and CEO of Kalinowski Equity Research.

Licensing its stores saves Starbucks the hassles of operating inside an airport, such as staffing problems, high rents and security checkpoints. And though the coffee chain is used to handling a surge of undercaffeinated customers in the mornings, the swell in demand at an airport can be even more erratic.

“A plane lands, and all of a sudden there’s a hundred people when there were zero people there before,” said Kevin Schimpf, director of industry research for Technomic.

The trade-off is that Starbucks makes less money from those licensed restaurants.

The company has more than 16,300 locations in the U.S. as of Sept. 24. But it only runs about 60% of those cafes itself; licensees operate the rest. That number includes its cafes in 47 of the 50 busiest airports in the U.S., according to Starbucks. The company did not disclose its current airport store count to CNBC.

In fiscal 2024, licensed locations accounted for 12% of Starbucks’ revenue, or $4.51 billion. From those stores, Starbucks collects only licensing fees, a percentage of monthly sales through royalties, and payments for supplying its coffee, tea and food to licensees, according to company filings.

For every dollar spent in a licensed store, Starbucks generates about 7 cents of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, according to estimates from Bank of America analyst Sara Senatore. Company-owned stores make about 23 cents per dollar spent, Senatore wrote in a research note in September.

If its business partners and third-party providers slack off, Starbucks’ brand could be damaged, the company noted in the risk factors section of its latest annual filing.

“The vast majority of customers, they don’t know whether that is a company-owned Starbucks or a licensed Starbucks,” Kalinowski said. “They just want their Starbucks. They want it made properly. They want it quickly. And they’re in a situation of heightened stress because they’re trying to get to their gate.”

Airports themselves have been adopting more technology in their restaurants to help move lines along.

Labor challenges have led to more kiosks and tablets inside airport restaurants, for example.

“It’s harder and harder to staff a lot of these restaurants, so any front-of-house savings that you can make by having consumers order on kiosks or tablets or whatever, that really, really helps,” Schimpf said.

Laurie Noyes, vice president of concessions and commercial parking at Tampa International Airport, said that “sometimes the airports are a little bit behind the street.” But she said the airport has made strides in offering more digital options and now, travelers can order food ahead of time via Uber Eats, and pick it up at airport restaurants.

Dallas Fort Worth offers DFWOrderNow, a website and platform available at digital kiosks so travelers can order food ahead. Simkins said the airport’s platform will reroute Starbucks customers to Starbucks’ own platform. Starbucks offers more than 170,000 possible drink orders, according to the chain’s website. “We just found the value in keeping the familiarity for their customers,” Simkins said.

Simkins said the airport is developing robotic technology for delivery to speed up service. It’s also experimenting with offering meal and retail bundles from airport restaurants and shops, she said, so passengers “no longer have to plan their route for multiple stops” in an airport.

A local coffee company, Fort Worth, Texas-based Ampersand, plans to open a robotic barista at DFW’s Terminal C, Simkins said. It will be available 24/7, to accommodate flight crews arriving at off-hours. 

Simkins said popular chains still draw a crowd.

“There are some brands that people will line up for,” she said.

For Barrino, who was waiting for her coffee at LaGuardia, Starbucks is one of those companies.

“I just really love the brand,” she said.

A federal judge said Monday he may hold an evidentiary hearing next month to help determine whether to approve the sale of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ media company to satirical publication The Onion.

Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez in Houston clarified the sale, which comes after a Nov. 13 auction, remains in limbo until such a hearing, when interested parties can make their case and he can decide which of Jones’ assets, if any, can be sold. A date was not immediately set.

He also declined to immediately rule on Jones’ request for a temporary restraining order to disqualify the Onion’s bid, and said ‘whatever was status quo pre-auction remains status quo’ — essentially allowing Jones to remain broadcasting from his flagship platform, Infowars, for the time being.

‘Firing folks a week before Thanksgiving is not what we do, but it sounds like that’s not what occurred,’ Lopez said. ‘Folks are continuing to work.’

Another bidder, First United American Companies, a limited liability company affiliated with Jones’ dietary supplements business, had challenged the results of the auction after it said it bid twice as much cash as the Onion.

At stake is the ownership of Infowars’ intellectual property, including its website — the prized asset in the auction in which proceeds are largely meant to help satisfy defamation verdicts awarded to several families of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

The families won lawsuits against Jones in 2022 after he repeatedly called the massacre that left 20 children and six staff members dead in Newtown, Connecticut, a ‘hoax’ on his Infowars broadcast. He filed for bankruptcy in his home state of Texas in the wake of the nearly $1.5 billion in legal judgments.

Jones’ company, Free Speech Systems, was set to go to the Onion, which has often mocked him in its faux news coverage, after bankruptcy trustee Christopher Murray announced the winning bid.

But First United American Companies quickly contested the results, saying in an emergency filing attempting to block the sale that it had offered $3.5 million in cash — compared to the Onion’s $1.75 million.

The auction process approved by Lopez did not require Murray to automatically select the bidder that submitted the highest amount, and the trustee could reject the bid that was ‘contrary to the best interests’ of the estate creditors.

Lopez said Monday that the focus of an evidentiary hearing will be on Murray’s business judgment in regard to how the auction was held. He said he may decide to approve the sale, order another auction or hold additional hearings.

‘I want a fair and transparent process, and let’s see where that process goes,’ Lopez said, adding, ‘Everyone will have their day in court.’

At a prior court hearing following the auction, Murray said, ‘the creditors ended up significantly better off’ under the Onion’s bid. He also explained in a filing that the majority of Sandy Hook families were willing to forgo their share of the sale proceeds and instead take a percentage from future revenues from a revamped Infowars, which would allow the other creditors to collect more money.

The Onion estimates its total bid value is $7 million.

But Walter Cicack, a lawyer for First American United Companies, said in its filing that the arrangement amounts to a ‘Monopoly’ money bid since any future revenues are undetermined.

‘This was not simply collaboration,’ he said of the Onion’s support from Sandy Hook families, ‘this was outright collusive bid rigging.’

Chris Mattei, an attorney for some of the victims’ families, said in a previous statement that the Onion did ‘a public service’ by spearheading the purchase and ‘will meaningfully hinder Jones’ ability to do more harm.’

Lawyers for the Onion said in a filing Sunday that the company has been ‘harassed and threatened by the Debtor and members of his audience since their winning bid was announced.’ They argued that the sale should proceed, writing that a joint bid ‘does not amount to collusion’ and disputing the idea that there was a lack of transparency because the auction used a sealed bid process.

‘Sealed bids maintain the competitive tension between bidders and force bidders to offer up their best terms irrespective of where other bids sit,’ the lawyers wrote, adding, ‘Far from maintaining this process in secrecy, once the Trustee selected the Successful Bidder, the Trustee publicly disclosed all information about the Qualified Bids, including by disclosing copies of the initial and final bids submitted by each Qualified Bidder.’

Onion CEO Ben Collins — who previously covered disinformation and conspiracy theories for NBC News — had said on social media that while ‘the judge had some questions about process and assets,’ its ‘bid with the families is clearly the best.’

Collins also wrote that the Onion plans to relaunch Infowars as ‘the dumbest website on the internet.’ A person with knowledge of the sale told NBC News the new platform will include well-known internet humor writers and content creators. 

In announcing the sale, the Onion put out a news release written in the voice of a satirical CEO of Global Tetrahedron, the publication’s Chicago-based parent company.

Infowars was briefly shut down after the sale was announced before it resumed operating with Jones, who claimed the site was ‘hijacked.’

Meanwhile, Jones — who built a small media empire off of promoting conspiracy theories and misinformation — has claimed that Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump are investigating the bankruptcy auction in his favor after Musk’s X Corp. filed a notice of appearance in the case. X Corp. is presumed to be an interested party because Jones uses X to broadcast his show and the case involves the potential transfer of Jones’ X handle in the sale.

Lawyers for Jones filed a request last week for a temporary restraining order to invalidate the Onion’s bid, and asserted that First United American Companies should be the successful bidder. Jones described the auction process as ‘fraudulent,’ but told his audience that regardless of what happens with Infowars, he won’t be silenced.

Macy’s on Monday said an employee responsible for managing accounting for small package deliveries concealed up to $154 million in expenses over the course of nearly three years.

The person who allegedly hid the money is no longer with the company, the department store operator said Monday morning, ahead of its third-quarter earnings report. The company, whose statement on the matter didn’t say when the person left the job, declined to comment beyond the announcement.

The news comes at a difficult time for Macy’s, which is indelibly tied to the holiday season through the film “Miracle on 34th Street” and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, while investors look for clues about how consumers are shopping for the holidays. Macy’s sales have slumped as the company has underperformed for the past decade.

The company was due to deliver results before U.S. stock markets opened Tuesday morning, but it has delayed releasing its full results until Dec. 11 to allow an independent investigation to wrap up.

Macy’s said it discovered the issue while preparing its financial report for the quarter ending Nov. 2. It did release preliminary findings for the period, saying overall net sales declined 2.4% year-over-year.

The company said the employee, who was responsible for the accounting of small package delivery expenses, ‘intentionally made erroneous accounting accrual entries’ to hide about $132 million to $154 million from the fourth quarter of 2021 through the most recently completed quarter. That is small relative to the $4.36 billion in overall delivery expenses Macy’s recorded during that period. However, it is greater than the $105 million in net profit the company recorded for its full fiscal year that ended Feb. 3.

The independent investigation hasn’t identified any other Macy’s employee, the company said.

‘At Macy’s, Inc., we promote a culture of ethical conduct. While we work diligently to complete the investigation as soon as practicable and ensure this matter is handled appropriately, our colleagues across the company are focused on serving our customers and executing our strategy for a successful holiday season,” CEO Tony Spring said in a statement Monday morning.

Macy’s is attempting a turnaround amid broader shifts in the retail industry, particularly as shoppers buy more online. In February, the retail chain said it would close 150 stores nationwide in a reorganization initiative to focus on luxury sales.

The move will leave 350 Macy’s locations, as well as Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury beauty and skin care stores, which the company said have been “outperformers” within the Macy’s portfolio.