Quick! Somebody call Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino of MTV's "Jersey Shore" fame. Abercrombie & Fitch might actually want him wearing their clothes in public again.
Abercrombie & Fitch reported a bigger-than-expected loss on Tuesday. Same-store sales at its A&F stores and Hollister chain fell in the second quarter too. The company also warned that the outlook for the rest of the year will be "challenging."
Abercrombie (or should I say Abercrumble?) & Fitch stock plunged nearly 20% in early trading on the news. A&F's stock is now down more than 30% this year.
Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), like many other mall-based apparel retailers, has struggled to stay relevant. The song "Summer Girls" by LFO, which praised the look of girls in Abercrombie & Fitch, was released way back in 1999. Nobody's singing about A&F now.
Younger consumers are less interested in clothes with a company's logo on it and are instead opting for cheaper, fast fashion from the likes of H&M, Zara, Uniqlo and Forever 21.
Pacific Sunwear and Aeropostale both filed for bankruptcy this year. American Apparel did so last year. Gap's (GPS) sales are hurting. And more diversified retailers like Macy's (M), Kohl's (KSS) and JCPenney (JCP) are struggling to attract teens and young adults too.
Related: More trouble at the mall. Gap sales sink again
But investors were hoping that Abercrombie & Fitch might be able to turn things around thanks to the efforts of executive chairman Arthur Martinez, who ran Sears (SHLD) back when that retailer was still an American icon.
Under Martinez, the retailer has de-emphasized much of the logo-based apparel that were once hugely popular at A&F and Hollister.
The company also has toned down its controversial, overly sexualized imagery that was prevalent under the leadership of former CEO Mike Jeffries -- who left the company in December 2014.
Jeffries was criticized for comments he made about only wanting "cool, good-looking people" to wear his company's clothes. It wasn't until late 2013 before the company finally began to offer plus sizes.
A&F was also attacked for having young-looking, scantily-clad models in many of its catalogs and advertisements.
Related: Retailers all across America are closing stores
An ex-pilot for the company-owned Gulfstream jet (since sold) said in an age discrimination lawsuit filed against the company a few years ago that Jeffries had an aircraft manual that listed dress requirements for male models working on the plane.
But even though A&F has been changing its image under Martinez, consumers aren't flocking back to the stores. The company's overall sales have now fallen for 14 quarters in a row.
Martinez said in the earnings release that lower traffic at the its flagship stores were weighing on A&F's results.
He added that weak sales at stores in popular tourist locations in the U.S. are also hurting the company. Economic uncertainty in Europe and Asia and a stronger U.S. dollar have made foreign travelers less willing to come to the U.S. to shop.
Related: Nearly 44,000 retail workers have been laid off in 2016
So can A&F turn things around? Or will investors start longing for the days of Jeffries again? Sex did sell at the company after all ... for a time at least.
Martinez urged investors to remain patient.
"We are focusing on the right priorities and we expect to see traction in our business as we introduce new product and invest in marketing to drive awareness and relevance for our brands," he said, while adding that it is "a challenging environment."
Wall Street is still skeptical though.
Cowen & Co. analyst Oliver Chen is taking a wait-and-see approach. He wrote in a report Tuesday morning that "changes will take time as the company needs to generate renewed awareness and traffic."
FBR & Co. analyst Susan Anderson noted that it was also troubling to see that sales were down in both the U.S. and the company's international stores. So the company's problems may run deeper than a decline in tourist shoppers in America.
Related: Why Americans aren't shopping till they drop
Analysts do seem to appreciate the fact that Martinez has toned things down at both the A&F and Hollister stores. But the company may now wind up being just a little too plain vanilla. There's nothing to make it stand out.
"A&F still has much work before its brands are restored to full health," wrote Neil Saunders, CEO of retail research firm Conlumino, in a report Tuesday.
"The brands still need a stronger sense of identity and focus in what remains a very crowded and competitive marketplace," Saunders added.
Don't expect A&F to bring back its controversial clothing anytime soon. But the company clearly needs to do something to convince young consumers that A&F and Hollister apparel can be cool once more.

Summer girls no longer shop at Abercrombie & Fitch


Summer boys don't either apparently. The struggling mall-based retailer reported yet another quarterly loss as sales continue to slide at the flagship A&F stores as well as its Hollister locations. Will the company ever turn things around?


Donald Trump says MSNBC and the co-host of "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski, should "immediately" apologize to one of his prominent supporters, Pastor Mark Burns.
The GOP nominee says Friday's interview of Burns was a "coordinated gang attack." In a statement on Sunday, Trump calls it "one of the most appalling things I have ever seen on television."
The segment was contentious, to say the least. The website Mediaite described the segment this way: "Brzezinski Browbeats Black Pro-Trump Pastor: Is It Racist, Yes or No?"
Related: Trump will address black voters
Burns made the TV news rounds last week supporting Trump's candidacy. In his "Morning Joe" appearance on Friday, Brzezinski asked Burns, when Trump "made the comments he made about the judge saying he was a Mexican, was that racist, or not?"
When he didn't immediately answer the question, Brzezinski interrupted: "I just want to know if it's racist or not, and then I can move on with the conversation, but I need to know where you stand on things in terms of reality. So were those comments racist or not?"
Burns avoided answering directly.
Later in the segment, one of the show's contributors, Mike Barnicle, asked Burns if he agreed with Trump's labeling of Clinton as a "bigot."
Brzezinski, Barnicle and Rev. Al Sharpton all pressed for an answer.
Burns said answering the question "doesn't solve" the problem of how to create more jobs for African-Americans.
"So why are we here on national television, wasting this wonderful time when we should be discussing" black unemployment, he said.
Brzezinski's co-host, Joe Scarborough, was off on Friday morning. That's why Trump's statement on Sunday focused on Brzezinski, whom he called "untalented."
"Liberals like Mika Brzezinski and MSNBC believe they are morally superior and will try to beat down those who are different," Trump said. "They only did this because Pastor Burns does not blindly follow what liberals want him to think or say. Pastor Burns deserves a public apology from Mika and MSNBC immediately."
Trump also called MSNBC and "Morning Joe" in particular "the propaganda arm of Hillary Clinton and her campaign."
MSNBC had no immediate comment on Sunday.
Related: Trump picks Twitter fight with Scarborough
The statement is notable because Trump previously had a very friendly relationship with "Morning Joe," calling into the show regularly during the primary season.
The relationship turned very tense in February, however, and has stayed that way almost ever since.
Earlier this week, Trump repeatedly attacked Brzezinski and Scarborough in highly personal ways on Twitter.
Trump also tweeted his dissatisfaction about the Burns interview after the show.
"Wonderful @pastormarkburns was attacked viciously and unfairly on @MSNBC by crazy @morningmika on low ratings @Morning_Joe. Apologize!" he wrote on Friday.
Wonderful @pastormarkburns was attacked viciously and unfairly on @MSNBC by crazy @morningmika on low ratings @Morning_Joe. Apologize! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2016
In Sunday's statement, though, he seemed to call the show highly-rated, saying the "disgusting" episode unfolded in front of "millions of viewers."

Donald Trump: Mika must apologize for 'gang attack' on Pastor Mark Burns


Donald Trump says MSNBC and the co-host of "Morning Joe," Mika Brzezinski, should "immediately" apologize to one of his prominent supporters, Pastor Mark Burns.


The federal government is officially opening America's skies to drones.
FAA rules for the commercial use of drones go into effect Monday.
"It's an important moment," said Brian Wynne, chief executive of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International. "But it probably won't be like a light switch going on."
Interested drone pilots must pass an aeronautical exam before they are allowed to fly. The first exam will be available at 8 a.m. Monday morning, which 3,351 people have signed up to take.
The exam has generated "great excitement" from a wide range of industries around the country, according to Mark Dennehy, president of Computer Assisted Testing Service, which administers the test.
Drones are appealing because they provide aerial photos and video at a fraction of the cost of traditional methods. Potential uses include crop monitoring, construction site management, search and rescue, surveying, film-making and firefighting.
The key rules for businesses are this: Do not fly at night or over anyone not involved in your operation. Drones also may not fly higher than 400 feet, must be under 55 pounds and must remain in the visual sight of a human operator.
Related: New drone rules could curtail cell tower deaths
More than 3,000 businesses have already received a government exemption to fly.
The new rules simplify the process of flying legally. Drone operators will no longer need to receive a pilot's license, which has been a point of contention. Getting a pilot's license is expensive and time-intensive, and some of the skills taught aren't applicable to flying a drone.
The current rules include limitations that will hamper the arrival of some drone services, such as autonomous delivery. So don't expect companies to be dropping packages in your backyard anytime soon.
Related: Domino's delivers pizza by drone in New Zealand
There is a waiver process for businesses that have their hearts' set on flying at night, over 400 feet or beyond the line of sight of a drone operator.
The new drone rules arrived late -- missing a deadline Congress set in 2012, but Wynne said he's seen the FAA adapt to the challenge of regulating the rapidly developing technology.
"It's a sea change in mentality inside the FAA to we have to work with industry on this," Wynne said. "It's a change in mentality away from the big hammer FAA to one that recognizes, 'Hey we can't be in all places at all times.'"

A landmark day for drone flights arrives


The FAA's rules for businesses looking to fly drones go into effect Monday.


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Swimsuit model: I claimed confidence in my cellulite


Ashley Graham, the first plus-sized model to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue talks about body shaming, cyberbullying and body acceptance.


Pow Wham Zap! Meet a real life comic book hero


Ariell Johnson is the first black female comic book owner on the East Coast.


One of the most significant iPhone hacks to date was outed with a simple text message.
Security researchers on Thursday announced they had discovered a new piece of iPhone malware that allowed attackers to see virtually everything on your iPhone. They traced the previously unknown spyware back to an Israeli-based company called the NSO Group. NSO openly sells software that it says can track a person's mobile phone -- and many of its clients are governments.
At the same time on Thursday, Apple (AAPL, Tech30) released a software update for iOS 9.3.5 that patches the vulnerabilities. The company recommends anyone using an iPhone update their iOS immediately. For users running the beta of iOS 10, the latest seed also patches the exploits.
Researchers said it appeared governments had used NSO's software to target journalists and human rights workers. They used fake domains to try and disguise themselves as legitimate groups like the Red Cross, news organizations, and large tech companies.
Human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor first received a suspicious text message on August 10. The next day he got another, this time with a link promising information on detainees in UAE jails. No stranger to hacking attempts, the well-known dissident forwarded the messages to a researcher at Citizen Lab in the University of Toronto's Munk School of Global Affairs.
Related: FBI director: We bought 'a tool' to hack terrorist's iPhone
Citizen Lab teamed up with mobile security company Lookout to investigate. Together they confirmed the discovery of an advanced piece of spyware that took advantage of three previously unknown iOS security holes. By clicking on the text link, Mansoor would have unwittingly installed the malware and allowed the sender full access to his communications.
The combination of the vulnerabilities, together known as "Trident," gives the attacker access to an iPhone's camera, microphone and location. It can intercept text messages and emails, download calendar and contact data, and see passwords stored in the iPhone's keychain. It can record phone calls and messages from WhatsApp and Viber, and access communication apps including iMessage, Gmail, Facebook, Skype, and Line.
"We were made aware of this vulnerability and immediately fixed it with iOS 9.3.5. We advise all of our customers to always download the latest version of iOS to protect themselves against potential security exploits," said Apple spokesman Fred Sainz in a statement.
Related: Hacker claims to be selling stolen NSA spy tools
NSO Group denied any knowledge of this specific hack.
"The company sells only to authorized governmental agencies, and fully complies with strict export control laws and regulations," NSO spokesman Zamir Dahbash said in a statement. "The agreements signed with the company's customers require that the company's products only be used in a lawful manner. Specifically, the products may only be used for the prevention and investigation of crimes."
--CNNMoney's Samuel Burke contributed to this report.

iPhone vulnerability used to target journalists, aid workers


A newly discovered exploit used on activists could take over an iPhone and turn it into a spying tool.


Nate Parker continues to explain himself.
Parker is the director and star of "The Birth of a Nation," a highly-anticipated fall film about racial injustice that has been overshadowed in recent weeks by a past rape case.
Parker, now 36, was charged with rape while a student at Penn State in 1999. He was acquitted, and the accuser committed suicide in 2012 at the age of 30.
"The Birth of a Nation" is a drama about Nat Turner's slave rebellion in 1831. Parker plays Turner.
Speaking at the Merge Summit in Los Angeles on Friday night, Parker said it was "very difficult to talk about injustice and not deal" with the rape charges in a public way.
"When I was first met with the news that this part of my past had come up, my knee-jerk reaction was selfish," he said, according to a report by Ebony.
In an interview with Ebony's Britni Danielle, Parker spoke about what he called "toxic masculinity and male privilege."
He said his perception of consent has changed.
"It wasn't a conversation people were having," he said. "When I think about 1999, I think about being a 19-year-old kid, and I think about my attitude and behavior just toward women with respect objectifying them. I never thought about consent as a definition, especially as I do now."
Related: 'People need to see this movie'
Danielle asked Parker how he would label the incident that led to the rape charges.
"I'll say this, I think that [there] are more things than the law," Parker said. "I think there is having a behavior that is disrespectful to women that goes unchecked, where your manhood is defined by sexual conquests, where you trade stories with your friends and no one checks anyone."
Parker said he believes most people wait too long to think about the effects of "hyper-masculinity and false definitions of what it means to be a man." Too often, men don't understand until they have kids or get married, according to Parker.
"In all actuality, we got to do better about preparing our men for their interactions with women," he said.
Related: Nate Parker 'devastated' over rape case
"The Birth of a Nation" got rave reviews at the Sundance festival in January and was bought by Fox Searchlight for $17.5 million. It opens in theaters on October 7.
The controversy over Parker's past has shadowed the movie ahead of its release.
In a Facebook post earlier this month, Parker said he was "filled with profound sorrow" when he recently learned that the woman involved in his legal case had committed suicide.

Nate Parker of Birth of a Nation speaks to Ebony


Nate Parker, the star and director of "The Birth of a Nation," has been shadowed in recent weeks by a past rape case. He spoke Friday in an interview with Ebony.


What else can you possibly add to your resume after serving as president of the United States? Magazine editor, apparently.
President Obama will guest edit the November issue of Wired, which the magazine is touting as the first time a magazine has been edited by a sitting president.
The issue, scheduled to come out in October, will focus on "the next hurdles that humanity will need to overcome to move forward," according to an announcement Tuesday from Wired.
"These will include personal frontiers, from precision medicine to human performance; local frontiers, including using data in urban planning and making sure renewable energy works for everyone; national frontiers, from civil rights to medical data," Robert Capps, head of editorial at Wired, wrote in the announcement.
It will also include "international frontiers, like climate change and cybersecurity; and final frontiers, including space travel and Artificial Intelligence," according to Capps.
Related: Obama's staff is taking over Silicon Valley
The announcement comes just days after Wired endorsed Hillary Clinton, marking the magazine's first presidential endorsement in its 23-year history.
Clinton won Wired's praise for supporting net neutrality, pledging to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and aiming to make immigration easier for people with STEM degrees.
The Obama administration has been particularly cozy with the technology industry that Wired covers.
Dozens of Obama staffers have left for jobs at companies like Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Uber -- and executives from some of these companies have also taken technology roles in the Obama administration.
Obama, like Clinton, has pushed for issues supported by Wired and the tech community, including entrepreneurship and the need for immigration reform for skilled workers.
Obama has even suggested he may be interested in doing some work as a venture capitalist after leaving office.


President Obama will guest edit the November issue of Wired, which the magazine is touting as the first time a magazine has been edited by a sitting president.


Vogue Brazil is under fire for altering images of models to make them look like amputees.
It published pictures of Brazilian actors Cleo Pires and Paulo Vilhena under the headline "We are all Paralympians." The magazine said it was trying to boost interest in the upcoming Paralympic Games in Rio.
Just 20% of tickets have sold for the Paralympics so far, even though they only cost $3 each, the magazine said.
The actors' bodies were altered to look like those of two Brazilian Paralympians, table tennis player Bruna Alexandre and sitting volleyball player Renato Leite.
Alexandre had her right arm amputated when she was three months old and Leite has a prosthetic leg.
Related: Slow ticket sales for Rio Paralympics
But many readers criticized the decision to use digitally-altered images of models rather than Paralympians.
"I think that the campaign should have been done with the athletes themselves, showing their strengths and efforts to reach the games," said Andre Santos, one of the thousands of people who took the magazine to task on its website and Instagram profile.
Auction alert: You can buy gear from the Rio Olympics
Vogue Brazil tried to explain its motive in a second article. It said the idea for the campaign came from Pires, an ambassador for the Paralympics.
"We knew it would be a punch in the stomach, but it was for a good cause, after all, almost no one bought tickets to see the Paralympic Games," Clayton Carneiro, art director of Vogue Brazil, said in the statement.
Despite the criticism, Alexandre said she was "proud to be part of the campaign."
Vogue Brazil has a circulation of 62,000 copies, according to the publisher. The magazine's online version has nearly 3 million unique visitors a month.
The magazine is published by Conde Nast international. It declined to comment on the matter.

Vogue Brazil turns models into amputees to promote Paralympics


Vogue Brazil is under fire for photoshopping images of able-bodied models to make them look like amputees for a Paralympics campaign.


On Friday morning the Roanoke, Virginia television station WDBJ marked the one-year anniversary of Alison Parker and Adam Ward's deaths with a moment of silence on the air.
There are off-air tributes at the station as well. WDBJ is a changed newsroom after the televised ambush by an ex-employee that left Parker and Ward dead on August 26, 2015.
Ward was operating the camera and Parker was in the middle of a live report at a local tourism destination, Smith Mountain Lake, when the gunman approached. Both journalists were killed at point blank range. The tourism official Parker was interviewing, Vicki Gardner, survived, but was seriously injured.
The attack represented the first deaths of journalists on assignment in the United States in almost a decade.
Related: The day that changed WDBJ
One year later, the station is under new management. The news director and general manager who steered the newsroom through the crisis now have new jobs.
But Parker's boyfriend Chris Hurst, who anchors the 6 and 11 p.m. news, remains at the anchor desk.
He is off work this week because he and some of Parker's family members and close friends are on a week-long rafting and hiking trip in North Carolina.
"This is where she came every year for her birthday," Hurst said by phone on Thursday.
A rafting trip on the Nantahala River in North Carolina was one of Hurst's last memories with Parker before the shooting.
He said he expected Friday to be a "very difficult day because it reminds us of how she died and how utterly inhumane it was."
Hurst described what happened to Parker and Ward as "workplace violence," not necessarily related to their occupation in the news industry.
That said, the gunman did exploit the inherent vulnerabilities of a TV live shot. He approached Ward from behind, according to the body camera video that he published on the web before killing himself.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, local TV stations were concerned about copycat crimes. Some stations stepped up security for crews in the field. But there have not been systemic changes in the twelve months since the murders.
Related: Victim speaks on the tragedy, TV violence and looking 'ahead'
Confrontations occasionally take place between television reporters and bystanders. One such incident, involving a woman sucker-punching a reporter on live TV, happened in Philadelphia two months ago.
Hurst said broadcasters have a duty to "ensure the safety of their staffs out in the field." But there is only so much that can be done.
Earlier this summer WDBJ suffered a round of layoffs, an all too common occurrence in the news business. Most of the ten people who exited the station were videographers and other personnel who worked behind the camera.
There is increasing pressure to work as "one man bands," a term of art for journalists who set up the live shot, operate the camera and step in front of the camera to deliver the report -- jobs that used to be performed by two or three members of a team.
This pressure is by no means unique to WDBJ. But it may be especially sensitive within the newsroom due to Parker and Ward's deaths.
Two employees said on condition of anonymity that the "one man band" assignments are becoming more common but that news crews with multiple employees still handle some stories.
The station's new general manager Matt Pumo did not respond to a request for comment.
Jeff Marks, WDBJ's longtime general manager who was thrust into the national spotlight after the shootings, was prepared to retire this time last year.
At the time of the shootings, a plan was in the works for WDBJ to be acquired by Gray Television, a firm that owns stations in 51 markets across the country.
Marks was offered a corporate job at Gray, so he now hopscotches from station to station, but he'll be back at WDBJ for Friday's somber anniversary.
In the aftermath of the attack, he said, "I think we became firm in our resolve to live up to the standards that Adam and Alison tried to reach."
What he wants to impart to up-and-coming journalists now is that "this is a safe profession, as much as we're safe anywhere."
Compared to some other countries, journalists are free to operate across the United States. "If we're going to have this freedom, to operate freely and to say what needs to be said, then we need to find out what needs to be said," Marks said.
That's the message he said he is planning to convey at a journalism conference in September.
Related: Virginia tightens gun laws
Earlier this month WDBJ completed a memorial to Parker and Ward outside the station's entrance.
"As we come up on the one-year anniversary of their deaths, we hope to respect them by living the way they did -- with kindness and laughter," the station said in a Facebook post.
On the morning of the shooting, Hurst was asleep because he had worked the late-night shift the prior day. Ward's fiance Melissa Ott was in the control room producing the 6 a.m. newscast, which means she witnessed the shooting and the aftermath.
It was supposed to be Ott's last day at WDBJ. She had accepted a job at a station in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Ott is now working at that station, but has chosen not to speak about the shooting.
"Melissa is in the business so she understands everything that talking and not talking entails. I wholly respect her decision," Hurst said.
He pointed out that "she's had to make the same pitches before," meaning she has had to ask loved ones of other shooting victims for interviews.
Hurst and Ott were in touch this week — they pieced together a playlist of Parker and Ward's favorite songs and artists.
Q99, a local station in Roanoke, is playing the songs and dedicating Friday morning's broadcast to the two slain journalists.

What has changed since the WDBJ shooting one year ago


On Friday morning the Roanoke, Virginia television station WDBJ will mark the one year anniversary of Alison Parker and Adam Ward's deaths with a moment of silence on the air.


A couple decades ago it might have been one of the jokes in the list of "World's Shortest Books": A collection of the greatest TV shows of all time.
Now, in the midst of a sustained run of outstanding work across the ever-expanding shows-on-screens industry, you can read 400 pages on the subject of great television shows and still feel some worthy titles were left out.
Those 400 pages come from longtime TV critics Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz, who have taken on the assignment -- which truthfully seems more fun than challenge -- of not only naming and analyzing the top 100 shows in the history of the medium, but actually ranking them. As in: "Freaks and Geeks" is a greater achievement than "The Dick Van Dyke Show." And "In Treatment" beats out "The West Wing." And "Batman" somehow scores higher than "Gilmore Girls." (Not with my wife, it doesn't.)
At least one point of "TV (The Book)" -- the parentheses are part of the title -- is to stimulate the same kind of argument that attends the evaluations of other archetypes of American culture, like outfielders (Williams or Musial); rock icons (Elvis or Bruce); or movie candy (Sno-Caps or Twizzlers.) That is to say: it's going to have readers comparing and contrasting their own preferences, accompanied by shock or awe about the authors' opinions.
And when you disagree with some of the judgments, as you probably will, it only means you care more about television now more than ever before, which is really the reason to write and read a book like this.
But Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz (I know and respect both men as professionals in a field I have long toiled in myself) are really not in this for the value jousting. This is not a series of seat-of-the-pants pronouncements of personal opinions. And aside from some meaty back and forth disquisitions about the merits of the true contenders for the ultimate prize, there is not a lot of explanation for why, say, "Arrested Development" gets a higher grade than "The Honeymooners" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."
The explanations really lie in the book's appendix, which is a big chart of number scoring -- in a system not unlike judges' scores in the old gymnastics contests: 10 is perfection.
The authors have taken seriously their attempt to find a system to evaluate TV shows based on a range of criteria.
The criteria amount to the basics of great narrative art. (There are no sabermetrics involved.) Was the show consistent? Did it influence what followed? Was it innovative? The average television viewer might only decide they flat-out liked a show and never consider -- or ever care about -- those elements. But Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz wanted a way to separate shows of relatively comparable worthiness.
Related: How HBO stole back "The Night Of," its next big show
Certainly other criteria could have been included -- such as sustained success, or awards, or how shows hold up over time. ("Mary Tyler Moore" might have edged out "Arrested Development" in that case, for example.)
Sepinwall told me his original preference would have been simply to write a book about the greatest shows, in no special order. And Zoller Seitz, also a long-time film critic, said he always resisted putting together rankings like lists of the year's top ten movies, which seemed forced and hopelessly arbitrary. But the book's editors urged them to go with a true reckoning. "They told us: people are going to want to know what was the best," Sepinwall said.
It's the American way: We keep score.
Not that it was easy in this case. Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz found themselves splitting the hairs on a hare to separate the shows at the very top. They wound up with five shows with the top score in their system: 112 points. It's not really being a spoiler to announce their results because they do not write cute about them: there is no countdown in the book to the circle of glory; they start the book out at the top.
The ultimate assessments among this version of the Final Five are thrashed out in some lively point/counterpoint writing between the two critics, where they decide why "Breaking Bad" can't be the best show of all time (some will surely disagree); why "Cheers" is not quite the best comedy (nor is "Seinfeld," which finished out of the top-5 money); and why "The Wire," which has long been unchallengeable among some critics, was nosed out in this evaluation by "The Sopranos."
As it happens, all of them lost out to "The Simpsons," which gets the golden remote-control scepter as the all-time TV champ. The choice, while entirely legitimate, seems to buck some of the authors' own standards of excellence, since the show's longevity has inevitably damaged its consistency. But both men ardently defended the classic comedy series from some devil's advocate questioning about whether animated characters can really match up performance-wise with Bryan Cranston, James Gandolfini and Edie Falco.
Actually, in some ways being a pure fan matters even to serious critics. Sepinwall argued that even in its diminished latter years "The Simpsons" would be a contender. He has seen all 596 episodes of the series.
"The Simpsons" is also one of the most successful shows ever on television. But success was not a factor that helped elevate shows to greatness for the pair. Some of the top shows, like "The Wire" and "Man Men" (rank: 6) never posted impressive audience totals. But many others in the top ten were among TV's biggest all-time hits like "Seinfeld" (7th), "I Love Lucy" (8th) "All in the Family"(10th). Another massive hit, "M*A*S*H" was 11th.
But the authors also displayed fondness for shows with less profound commercial status, like the critical darling "Arrested Development" and a show that many critics miss perhaps more than any other, the drama "Deadwood." Not only do Sepinwall and Zoller Seitz rank the HBO western all the way up in 9th place (some shows behind it: "NYPD Blue"-31st; "Lost"-24th; "The X-Files"-20th; and "The Twilight Zone"-14th) but Sepinwall said if HBO had not inexplicably ended "Deadwood" when it did after three seasons "it would probably be considered for the top spot."
As for shows with outrageous commercial success, some got mentioned in the book's category of "A Certain Regard" -- like the hugely popular night-time soap, "Dallas" -- but others were cold shouldered entirely. That was the case with "C.S.I.," which, during its long run was by far the most-watched show in the entire world. It is not mentioned in the book. Zoller Seitz said police shows were well represented by numerous other contenders. He did acknowledge one "conspicuous omission," the recent medical drama, "House."
It's probable that fans of television will think of many more of their favorites that didn't win any regard at all in "TV (The Book)." But that's as it should be: not because the shows were necessarily unworthy, but because this is, after all, the assessment of two individual viewers. They just happen to be extremely informed viewers with both a comprehensive take on the art form of television and the skill to write compellingly about their choices.
And sometimes they are even right.
"TV (The Book): Two experts Pick the Greatest American Shows of All Time," a book from Grand Central Publishing, is on sale September 6.

'TV (The Book)': the medium finally gets the book it deserves


"TV (The Book)" review -- a look at the new book by Alan Sepinwall and Matt Zoller Seitz


Ireland must recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in unpaid taxes from Apple, Europe's top regulator ruled on Tuesday.
The tax ruling is by far the biggest the European Union has ever made regarding a single company, and it could spark a huge transatlantic row over how Europe treats big U.S. companies.
Apple shares fell almost 3% in premarket trading. The company will appeal the decision. It said the ruling upended the international tax system and would damage jobs and investment in Europe. Ireland also intends to appeal.
The Commission said the Irish government had granted illegal state aid to Apple (AAPL, Tech30) by helping the tech giant to artificially lower its tax bill for more than 20 years.
"Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies -- this is illegal under EU state aid rules," said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Europe's top antitrust official.
Apple paid tax at 1%, or less, on profits attributed to its subsidiaries in Ireland, well below the 35% top rate in the United States and even well below Ireland's 12.5% rate.
That prompted complaints by both European and U.S. lawmakers, who argued the deal gave Apple an unfair advantage in exchange for creating jobs in Ireland. CEO Tim Cook was even called to testify on Apple's tax deal before a Senate committee in 2013.
The bill for tax benefits, plus interest, covers 2003 to 2014. Apple has more than $231 billion in cash on its balance sheet to cushion the blow.
Related: U.S. warns EU: Don't hit Apple with a massive tax bill
Apple (AAPL, Tech30) is not the only American company that has recently found itself under scrutiny over its European tax affairs.
The European Commission ordered Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler to repay millions in taxes last October.
Starbucks (SBUX) has to pay back up to 30 million euros it saved thanks to a sweetheart tax deal with the Netherlands. Fiat Chrysler (FCAM) was ordered to repay a similar amount after a similar deal with Luxembourg.
Both companies have appealed the decisions.
Related: France going 'all the way' to collect tax from Google, McDonald's
The EU is also probing the tax arrangements of Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and McDonald's (MCD). Google (GOOG) is under investigation over its taxes in France and a couple of other European countries.
The ruling against Apple's tax deal comes despite a stern warning from the U.S. last week. The Treasury Department urged the European Commission to stop its tax crackdown on American companies, saying it would consider "potential responses" if Brussels doesn't change course.

Europe hits Apple with $14.6 billion tax bill


The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover unpaid taxes, plus interest, from Apple dating back to 2003.


What do you give the Pope if you're a tech CEO?
Mark Zuckerberg handed over a Facebook drone when he, and his wife Priscilla Chan, met Pope Francis on Monday.
"It was a meeting we'll never forget," Zuckerberg said. "You can feel [the Pope's] warmth and kindness, and how deeply he cares about helping people.
Zuckerberg updated his personal page on Facebook (FB, Tech30) with a photo of himself giving the Pope a model of Aquila, a solar-powered aircraft that Facebook hopes will expand Internet access in developing countries.
"Together they spoke about how to use communications technology to alleviate poverty, encourage a culture of encounter, and to communicate a message of hope, especially to the most disadvantaged," the Vatican Press Office said in a statement.
Zuckerberg announced his trip to Italy last week after the country was struck by a devastating earthquake. He has scheduled a live question and answer session for later on Monday, and said he was "looking forward to spending time with our Italian community."
The tech CEO has said Rome is a special city to him. He honeymooned there with Chan, and says he is a student of Latin and Classical history.
Zuckerberg also posted a photo of himself running by the Colosseum.
"It's great to be back in Rome! We started the day with a run past the Circus Maximus and House of Augustus up to the Colosseum. It's pretty amazing to run on roads in the city that helped invent them," he said.
Over the weekend, Zuckerberg posted an update and photo from the wedding of Spotify co-founder Daniel Ek, which was held near Lake Como in northern Italy.
Related: In case of emergency, open Facebook
Usually the act of a politician, visiting a country after a disaster would fit with Zuckerberg's recent push to paint himself as a sort of Silicon Valley statesman. He has been carefully crafting his image through Facebook posts, Q&As and public trips to places like China.
The social network has also taken on an unexpected role in international disasters. After events like earthquakes, hurricanes, or bombings, people let friends and family know they're OK with Facebook's Safety Check feature.
-- Livia Borghese and Heather Kelly contributed reporting.

Mark Zuckerberg gives Pope Francis a Facebook drone


Mark Zuckerberg has added a very special event to his tour of Italy: a meeting with the Pope.


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By continuing to use this site, you are agreeing to the new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.


The Mercy Virtual Care Program is cutting health care costs by getting hundreds of senior citizens to use iPads as an alternative to doctors' visits.


A top executive at a South Korean company facing a corruption investigation was found dead early Friday just hours before he was due to be questioned by prosecutors.
Lee In-won, vice president of the conglomerate Lotte Group, was discovered lying on the ground with a necktie around his throat, according to local police.
Police said they suspected he may have hanged himself and fallen to the ground when the necktie broke, but the cause of death hasn't officially been established. A four-page letter was found at the scene in Yangpyeong county, east of Seoul, police said, declining to comment on its contents.
Related: Two Zurich Insurance executives found dead
Lee's death comes amid the ongoing corruption investigation into Lotte, one of South Korea's five biggest conglomerates. The probe has shaken the company, forcing it to shelve plans for an initial public offering of one of its units.
The daughter of Lotte's founder was arrested last month on charges of bribery and embezzlement.
As part of the corruption investigation, Lee was due to meet with prosecutors Friday morning, the company said.
Lee, 69, joined Lotte in 1973 and held numerous positions as he rose up the ranks over the decades.
"It is hard to believe that Vice President Lee In-Won, who sacrificed more than anyone to lay the foundations for Lotte, has passed away," the company said in a statement.
Based in Korea and Japan, Lotte has a wide range of businesses, including candy, hotels, retail and construction.

Top exec at South Korea's Lotte found dead hours before prosecutor questioning


Lee In-won, vice president the conglomerate Lotte, was found dead early Friday just hours before he was due to be questioned by prosecutors.


Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll is defending her organization's controversial investigation into meetings Hillary Clinton took while Secretary of State -- but she admits a tweet the AP sent out about its story was "sloppy."
"I do think it's interesting," Carroll said of the AP's investigation and its findings during an interview with Brian Stelter on CNN's "Reliable Sources" Sunday. "We didn't say it amounted to the end of the world, we said this is an important and interesting thing that people should know about, Clinton's tenure in the highest office that she's ever held, Secretary of State. Who did she meet with? Who are those people?"
The investigation, and an article the AP published about it, came under scrutiny this week.
Related: Associated Press botches Hillary Clinton report and response
In examining people Clinton had met with during her tenure at the State Department and how many of them had given to the Clinton Foundation, the AP had excluded those with whom Clinton would be expected to meet as Secretary of State -- U.S. government employees and officials from foreign countries, for example. Critics charged that this painted a misleading picture of how much priority Clinton gave to the foundation's donors.
That was especially true of a tweet the AP sent promoting its story, in which it did not disclose the meetings it had left out of its calculations.
BREAKING: AP analysis: More than half those who met Clinton as Cabinet secretary gave money to Clinton Foundation. — The Associated Press (@AP) August 23, 2016
"We're a lot better at breaking stories and covering news and gathering video and taking photographs than we are on tweets," Carroll told Stelter. "This one could have used some more precision."
However, asked if that meant she regretted the tweet, Carroll said, "No. If we felt it was wrong, we would have taken it down right away." Pressed again, she said, "I think it was sloppy."
Carroll did defend the story itself, though, and put some of the blame on the Clinton campaign and the State Department for not being more forthcoming with Clinton's schedule as Secretary of State and for not answering questions about the investigation's findings.
"We ask them questions, they are unresponsive," Carroll said. "They had been unresponsive from the State Department until we sued them to get the documents, so you know we're glad to have plenty of conversations with people about that."
She added: "Anything they want to say to us that we can include in the story that would help illuminate their point of view, we'd be glad to include."

AP's Kathleen Carroll defends Clinton investigation


Kathleen Carroll of the AP is defending her organization's controversial investigation into meetings Hillary Clinton took while Secretary of State.


Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has some advice for Hillary Clinton: Tax fossil fuels.
Stiglitz, who is an adviser to Clinton, says taxing carbon would be the best way to address climate change -- and boost the U.S. economy.
The move would immediately lead to higher prices for oil, gas and coal. It would also hike the cost of anything that uses those fuels such as electricity and transportation. The goal is to force Americans to find alternatives that are cheaper and better for the planet.
Taxes typically hinder the economy, but Stiglitz believes this one would help.
"I think a carbon tax would stimulate the economy," Stiglitz told CNNMoney. He says it would lead many firms to remodel their factories and redesign their supply chains, which would generate jobs and growth.
Related: Nobel prize winner Stiglitz calls TPP 'outrageous'
Stiglitz says he has pitched the plan to her team, although he understands why the campaign has not adopted it as part of her 2016 election platform.
"There's nothing more important than making sure [Clinton] gets elected as opposed to Trump," says Stiglitz. "One has to be sensitive to what you can sell in a campaign."
Clinton calls climate change "an urgent threat and a defining challenge of our time." She vows to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by "up to 30%" below 2005 levels by 2025. It's a target in line with what President Obama agreed to at the Paris climate conference.
Her current plan does not go as far as Stiglitz's. Instead, she proposes a big investment in renewable energy and tougher standards on pollution and energy efficiency.
Related: Here's how much Hillary Clinton's tax plan would hit the rich
Republican Donald Trump has said he doesn't believe in climate change and that Democratic plans to address it are "just a very, very expensive form of tax."
One of the biggest concerns about a tax on carbon is that it would be a major burden on the poor and middle class. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that costs for a typical middle class family would go up about $600 a year.
To ensure that the poor aren't hit too hard by a carbon tax, Stiglitz proposes giving them some sort of credit or rebate. The aid to the poor could be funded by revenues from the carbon tax.
Bernie Sanders, who ran against Clinton in the primary, supports a tax on carbon.

Nobel prize winner Joseph Stiglitz tells Hillary Clinton: Put a tax on carbon


Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz has told Hillary Clinton to put a tax on carbon. He calls it the best way to address climate change -- and boost the economy.


Sunday mornings will not be the same.
Legendary newsman Charles Osgood is stepping down from "CBS Sunday Morning," the weekly magazine program he has helmed for the past 22 years. His final day as host will be September 25.
Sources said earlier this year that Osgood was contemplating retirement.
"I'm here to tell you that the rumors are true," he said at the end of Sunday's show.
"For years now people -- even friends and family -- have been asking me why I keep doing this considering my age. I am pushing 84. It's just that it's been such a joy doing it! Who wouldn't want to be the one who gets to introduce these terrific storytellers and the producers and writers and others who put this wonderful show together," he said. He concluded, "Between now and my last Sunday morning I'm going to practice singing that old Weavers song -- 'So long, it's been good to know you. So long, it's been good to know you. So long, it's been good to know you. What a long time since I've been home, and I've gotta be driftin' along."
"CBS Sunday Morning" is far and away the highest-rated Sunday morning news program on TV -- and it has been growing at a time when many other shows have been shrinking.
On Sunday morning Osgood thanked the viewers and said "the time has come" for him to say farewell.
CBS News said he will continue to make "occasional appearances" on the program, however. And Osgood will continue to host his daily news commentaries for CBS Radio.
After a remarkable 22 years, our beloved host #CharlesOsgood has announced his retirement https://t.co/77F6exZv3v pic.twitter.com/HUWUdIeqT8 — CBS Sunday Morning (@CBSSunday) August 28, 2016
The Sept. 25 broadcast of "CBS Sunday Morning" will be a "special edition" dedicated to Osgood's career, the network said.
The show's longtime executive producer, Rand Morrison, said in a statement, "Working with him truly has been an honor, a privilege and a joy. We look forward to paying tribute to him and his legendary career in September — and, of course, seeing him on the radio."
Osgood's contract was set to expire in December.
CBS made no immediate announcement about a successor. But Jane Pauley, a contributor to the magazine program, is seen as the most likely contender.
David Rhodes, the news division president, said Sunday morning that Osgood's "impeccable commitment to quality inspires all of us at CBS News."

Charles Osgood retiring from 'CBS Sunday Morning'


Legendary newsman Charles Osgood is stepping down from "CBS Sunday Morning," the weekly magazine program he has helmed for the past 22 years. His final day as host will be September 25.


Japan's first ever homegrown passenger jet has had a bumpy few days.
The plane was forced to abort two consecutive test flights to the U.S. over the weekend because of problems with the air management system on board.
It's the latest setback for the aircraft, the Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which has already suffered repeated delays.
Built by Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., the MRJ is an effort by Japan to compete in the global plane-making industry. It's the country's first new commercial aircraft in more than 50 years (the last one was powered by turboprop rather than jet technology).
Related: China's big plan to build a world-class aircraft engine
It made its first flight in November, but the company is now trying figure out what went wrong over the weekend.
"We are in the process of finding out the details of the issue we faced during the last two days," Mitsubishi said Monday. "We are inspecting what the cause is first, and then we will consider the next steps."
The MRJ was meant to fly from Japan to the U.S. to carry out a series of flight tests.
The company has pushed back delivery plans for the MRJ four times in the past seven years. Its first customer, Japan's ANA (ALNPY), placed its initial order in 2008, with deliveries scheduled to start in 2013. The airline now isn't expected to receive the first plane until mid-2018.
Related: Boeing could kill production of its iconic 747 jumbo jet
Mitsubishi says the jet, which seats as many as 92 passengers, uses 20% less fuel than other aircraft in its class because of its efficient engines and aerodynamic design.
The MRJ puts Mitsubishi in competition with Brazilian plane maker Embraer (ERJ) and Canada's Bombardier (BDRAF), which dominate the market for passenger jets with fewer than 100 seats.
Delays aren't uncommon in bringing new planes to market. Industry giants Boeing (BA) and Airbus (EADSF) have both endured embarrassing setbacks on high-profile jets like the 787 Dreamliner and the A380.

Japan's first passenger jet had a nightmare weekend


Japan's Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ), which has already suffered repeated delays, was forced to abort test flights to the U.S. not once but twice.


In Afghanistan, where decades of warfare have ravaged the country, there's a beautiful green oasis tucked between the mountains that's home to something rare and precious.
The Panjshir Valley, located north of Afghanistan's capital Kabul, is an area rich with more than 172 emerald mines.
Known as Panjshir emeralds, the gems boast a unique bluish-green color that make them among the country's most-iconic treasures.
Entrepreneur Habib Mohebi grew up in Kabul hearing about the emerald mines from friends local to that area. Years later, that knowledge would reconnect him to his homeland in a distinctive way.
Related: Hillary Clinton's new plan to help small business owners
Mohebi is the co-founder of Aria Gems, a company that mines and exports Panjshir emeralds. While its mining operations are in Afghanistan, the business is headquartered in New York, and its gem processing and cutting center in Fargo, N.D. There, the rough emeralds are turned into polished stones.
Since it launched in 2013, Aria Gems has become one of the largest suppliers of legally-mined Panjshir emeralds, having shipped more than 30,000 Carats of the stone.
It also owns three underground mines and four acres of surface area emerald deposits in Panjshir Valley.
Related: How a free Super Bowl ad turned Death Wish Coffee into a household name
Mohebi's entrepreneurial journey, however, didn't start with gems. He left Afghanistan for the U.S. in the 1980s, shortly after Russia invaded the country. He settled in Atlanta and opened a tailoring business.
That's where he met co-founder Forrest Snowden, a technologist working with IBM at the time, who frequented the shop. The two became friends.
"I knew nothing about Afghanistan, but I lived in the middle of an Afghan-American community in Atlanta at the time," Snowden said. "Every Friday, I'd sit with him at his shop and talk about his culture over a cup of tea."
In return, Mohebi persistently asked Snowden to start a company together that could help rebuild Afghanistan.
After Snowden left his job, he took up Mohebi's challenge. Along with Mohebi's brother Jamil, the trio first launched Aria Global Logistics in 2009.
The startup helped facilitate U.S. federal contracts for construction, transportation and logistic development in Afghanistan. It later entered into joint ventures with local Afghan construction companies.
"Our business was doing well," Snowden said. "Habib later told me about the emerald mines in Panjshir Valley. In 10 years of knowing him, he never [mentioned them before]."
"I immediately made a business case for the global trade of emeralds and other gemstones in Afghanistan," he said.
Related: This startup wants to prevent another Flint water crisis
Currently, the world's top emerald mining countries of Brazil, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Colombia -- which occupies the biggest piece of the mining pie -- produce a bulk of the global supply. Together, the countries bring in about $1.4 billion worth of gems annually.
By contrast, Afghanistan sells about $50 million worth of Panjshir emeralds annually.
"Most of it is in illegal trade," said Snowden, adding that both sellers and miners are usually underpaid for the value of the gems.
Said Mubin Shah, commercial attache with the Afghan Embassy on Washington, D.C. said the country's gems industry also lacks regulation and safety protocols.
"In Afghanistan, there is a grave issue of lack of education," said Shah. "There are many people in the gems industry who are unlicensed, unprofessional and extracting gems illegally."
In the Pajshir Valley, the emerald mines are owned and operated by community elders. "It's been that way for generations," said Snowden.
But mining often involves explosives: "[It's] not only dangerous, the process also fractures the stone," he added.
In 2013, Snowden and Mohebi launched their second business, Aria Gems, as a part of an effort to legally trade Panjshir emeralds in global markets.
The team only mines in areas free from conflict.
"We wanted to help the miners learn safer modern techniques that wouldn't damage the stone," said Mohebi. "[And] we're training men and women how to cut and polish the stone, too."
The company continues to have ambitious plans for its gems business.
By making the illegal gems trade in Afghanistan legal, Aria Gems wants to create more jobs in the country and generate more income.
"We want to put Panjshir emeralds on the map," said Snowden. "There's no reason why Afghanistan can't one day be second to Colombia in emerald mining."

This startup is protecting Afghanistan's prized rare emeralds


Aria Gems, an American-Afghan company, is helping to legitimize the trade of Afghanistan's iconic Panjshir emeralds.


Dreaming of a vacation, but don't have the cash for the airfare? You can now pay for your plane tickets in monthly installments.
CheapAir.com has teamed up with financial services company Affirm to allow fliers to take out three, six and 12-month purchase plans to cover their airfare.
Here's how it works: After selecting flights on CheapAir, customers can choose to make monthly payments on the checkout page. They have to provide their name, email and street addresses, date of birth, cellphone number and the last four digits of their Social Security number to help Affirm run a credit check. The check will not affect a customer's credit score.
The interest rate on the loans are based on credit worthiness and range from 10%-30% APR.
The average APR on new credit card offers was 15.19% last week, according to CreditCards.com Weekly Credit Card Rate Report.
Related: What's going with airfare prices this summer
Travelers will get approval within seconds, according to CheapAir.com CEO Jeff Klee, and there's no limit on how many tickets you can request financing for. But financing is only available for tickets that are $100 or more.
The new payment method is aimed at travelers who don't have a credit card or can't afford their trip.
"When you want to take a vacation, it's a lot of money to put up out front and you might not be able to manage it all at once," said Klee. "Spreading it out ... makes it become more easy to manage."
Related: Airfares are down, United says
Klee said CheapAir has been "aggressive" about embracing payment alternatives to credit cards. The website also allows customers to pay with Bitcoin and cash through Western Union.
"Anything that competes with credit cards I think is a good thing," he said. "This is one more option, and the more options, the better."
Despite more travelers hitting the skies, airfare prices have been dropping recently thanks to lower fuel costs and more capacity. Airlines have been expanding their routes and adding flights in the wake of lower oil prices.
Airfare prediction app Hopper expects airfare will continue its descent this fall, with domestic tickets decreasing 8.2% to hit $213 in October.

CheapAir now offers monthly payments for airline tickets


Dreaming of a vacation but can't afford to buy the plane tickets? You can now get financing on airfare on CheapAir.com.


Barbra Streisand appeared on Jimmy Fallon's "Tonight Show" to promote her new album. She did a duet with Alec Baldwin, who actually sings on the album, and sang with Fallon's "Donald Trump."

Barbra Streisand performs on 'The Tonight Show'


Barbra Streisand appeared on Jimmy Fallon's


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Fitbit has released its newest fitness trackers, the Flex 2 and Charge 2


Hillary Clinton is vowing to crackdown on revenge porn and help craft laws that protect victims of cybercrime.


The EpiPen scandal has transformed Mylan Pharmaceuticals and its CEO Heather Bresch into the newest symbols of corporate greed.
In the span of just a few weeks, they've gone from little-known players in the vast pharmaceutical industry to the targets of national ridicule over a relentless series of EpiPen price hikes.
Since 2009, Mylan has jacked up the price of the lifesaving allergy treatment an incredible 15 times. The list price on a two-pack of EpiPens is $609, up 400% from seven years ago.
The national outrage this month, sparked by a social media campaign by parents, has forced Mylan (MYL) to respond by taking the unusual step of launching a generic version of EpiPen at a 50% discount to its current price, as well as other moves to make the treatment more affordable.
Despite those efforts, Congress is now investigating Mylan. The powerful House Oversight Committee sent a letter to Bresch on Monday requesting a briefing and a trove of documents from the company about EpiPen.
Mylan has sought to pin the blame for the sticker shock on a shadowy health care supply chain. Bresch called the system "broken" and said it was in a "crisis," similar to the financial crisis of 2008 that blew up the economy.
Related: EpiPen CEO: Blame the 'broken' system, not me
Lack of 'empathy'
But Bresch's arguments aren't going over well with some.
The company doesn't understand the "very emotional, very stressful situation" parents are going through this back-to-school season, according to Wells Fargo analyst David Maris.
"No one's expecting Mylan to give away their products. But empathy is the most human emotion. And when you raise price year after year -- by a lot -- for a drug that's lifesaving, it shows a complete lack of empathy," he said.
Maris also points out that no one forced Mylan to dramatically raise EpiPen prices.
"It's outrageous. People shouldn't be fooled by the idea that the system made them do it. Mylan is to blame for the high prices of EpiPen," Maris said.
Broken system or opportunistic?
In fact, the most recent round of price hikes look more opportunistic, rather than the result of problems in the health care system.
In November 2015, Mylan raised EpiPen prices by 15% (for the 14th time since 2009). The hike came just a month after the drug's main rival Auvi-Q was pulled off the market. Six months later, the company jacked up prices again, by another 15%.
"With competitors out of the market, Mylan was in a position to price up EpiPen, which they did," Bernstein analysts wrote in a recent report.
EpiPen CEO made $19 million last year
Bresch, who is the daughter of U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, has sought to push back against these criticisms.
"You can do good and do well, and I think we strike that balance around the globe," Bresch told The New York Times.
However, she added: "I am running a business. I am a for-profit business. I am not hiding from that."
Business has indeed been very good -- for Mylan and Bresch alike -- thanks in part to the increasingly-lucrative EpiPen.
Ever since Mylan started raising EpiPen prices in 2009, the profit margin of the Mylan division that sells the drug has quadrupled, according to Wells Fargo's analysis of corporate filings.
Rising profits are a big reason why Bresch earned nearly $19 million in total compensation last year. And over the past three years, she made $54 million.
Related: Here's what happened to AIDS drug that spiked 5,000%
Mylan's defenders note that the $609 list price of EpiPen may get all of the attention, but most consumers don't actually pay that. Even before Mylan's recent cost-cutting moves, the company has indicated that 80% of its prescriptions translate to $0 out-of-pocket expenses.
Just 4% of EpiPen prescriptions actually led to $600 or more in out-of-pocket expenses, according to an analysis by Evercore analyst Umer Raffat. However, that still translates to a significant 150,000 prescriptions at that high price, Raffat said.

How EpiPen came to symbolize corporate greed


The EpiPen scandal has transformed Mylan Pharmaceuticals and its powerful CEO Heather Bresch into the newest symbols of corporate greed gone bad.


There may be a new gem among Silicon Valley's glittering startup scene. A Santa Clara-based company is creating jewelry-grade diamonds in a lab, using a plasma reactor that reaches temperatures as hot as the sun.
Natural diamonds are made from pure carbon and form over billions of years under high pressure and temperature, at depths of over 100 km in the Earth's mantle. But Diamond Foundry grows its stones inside a plasma reactor, atom by atom, from a tiny slice of a "mother diamond" mined in Canada. The process takes about a month.
The idea is to produce diamonds that are indistinguishable from their natural counterparts, but free of the controversies associated with real diamonds.
Related: World's most expensive rough diamond sells for $63 million
The diamond industry has been tainted by its association with "blood diamonds," which are mined to fund conflict and civil war. The profits have been used by warlords and rebels to buy arms during conflicts in Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Liberia. As well as diamonds fueling conflict, thousands of men, women and children in countries such as Sierra Leone have been used as slaves to extract diamonds using primitive, back-breaking methods.
The Kimberley Process, which regulates the trade of rough diamonds, says conflict diamonds make up only 0.1% of the world's current production. But buying from Diamond Foundry should give consumers total peace of mind.
"We have sustainable diamonds that have none of these practices involved," says Diamond Foundry's Austrian-American CEO and founder Martin Roscheisen.
When their solar energy company Nanosolar folded in 2013, Roscheisen's team of MIT, Stanford and Princeton schooled engineers needed a new project focusing on sustainability. "We like businesses that do good, in addition to being profitable," explains Roscheisen.
After two years of research and development, the company launched its diamonds in November 2015. Teaming up with cutters and designers, it sells engagement rings and loose diamonds of various cuts online.
High-profile investors
The company raised capital of over $100 million from 12 billionaires, including Twitter founder Evan Williams and actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who contacted Diamond Foundry after hearing about them.
"Nobody knew about us then, but it's pretty rare for Silicon Valley to have a tech company focused on diamonds, so word of mouth was going around," says Roscheisen.
DiCaprio, who starred in the 2007 film "Blood Diamond," which explores the conflict around the mining industry in war-torn regions of Africa, has endorsed the company's ethical approach to diamond production.
"Proud to invest in Diamond Foundry -- a co reducing human & environmental toll by sustainably culturing diamonds," the actor tweeted in November.
A novel approach
There are other companies out there making synthetic diamonds, but Diamond Foundry's approach is a novel combination of high-quality stones, bespoke cuts and environmentally conscious energy usage, says Roscheisen.
The plasma produced by its reactor is around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit -- as hot as the outer core of the sun, Roscheisen explains, describing it as "a sun on Earth." It is a costly and energy-intensive process, but the use of solar and hydropower results in a zero carbon footprint, according to the company.
In terms of the technology, Roscheisen says what sets it apart is the ability to produce high-quality diamonds, thanks to a method involving high temperatures, as opposed to high pressure, and a cooling technology that results in pure and large stones.
In demand
More production facilities are planned in San Francisco and London. For now, the Santa Clara site produces 1,000 carats a month, which is between 150 and 300 gems from every two-week batch. So far, the largest it has grown was a 12-carat stone.
Demand exceeds supply, says Roscheisen. "Everything we produce sells out within two weeks," he adds.
The lab-grown gems cost the same as mined diamonds, with the online price set at 10% to 15% below market price, according to the company. A loose diamond from its online shop costs from $305 for a 0.38 carat round-cut gem to $23,000 for a 2.30 carat gem.
They come certified by the Gemological Institute of America and are as real as those dug out of the ground, says Roscheisen.
"A diamond is a diamond," says Roscheisen. "Scientifically it is a tetrahedral carbon allotrope, and it is the same thing whether mined or man-made."

Why Leonardo DiCaprio is backing man-made diamonds


A Santa Clara-based company is creating jewelry-grade diamonds in a lab, using a plasma reactor that reaches temperatures as hot as the sun.


Tennis star Andre Agassi sits down with CNNMoney's Ahiza Garcia to talk about his return to Arthur Ashe Stadium and his new partnership with Lavazza coffee.


It's been smooth summer sailing in the markets this month.
But things could get choppy today.
Here are the six things you need to know before the opening bell rings in New York:
1. Biting into Apple: The European Commission will demand Tuesday that Ireland recover unpaid taxes dating back many years from Apple, according to multiple media reports. A spokesperson declined to comment but the Commission has scheduled a news conference for 6 a.m. ET with its chief antitrust official.
The EU watchdog has been probing the tax arrangements of Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Starbucks (SBUX) in European countries over concerns the firms were getting a special deal from governments hoping to attract companies.
Apple has already warned that the investigation could force it to pay a decade's worth of back taxes to Ireland.
Related: Apple's next iPhone will likely be unveiled Sept. 7
2. Bitter sweet: Hershey (HSY) stock plunged in extended trading after Cadbury owner Mondelez (MDLZ) said it was abandoning attempts to acquire the iconic American chocolate maker.
In June, Hershey rejected a $107-a-share takeover offer from Mondelez. The offer represented a 10% premium to Hershey's closing price at the time.
The two companies continued talking, but Mondelez said merger talks are now over.
3. Aviation observations: There's a lot happening in the airline industry right now.
Shares in American Airlines (AAL) were looking soft in extended trading after the firm said its president, Scott Kirby, was switching companies to work at United Continental (UAL).
United said Kirby will take over "operations, marketing, sales, alliances, network planning and revenue management" at the airline.
In a letter to employees, United CEO Oscar Munoz said this "will allow me to sharpen my own focus as CEO on the core mission of driving United's overall strategy, business innovation and financial performance."
Southwest Airlines (LUV) is also in the spotlight after it reached a tentative compensation deal with 8,000 unionized pilots following four years of talks.
The Southwest Airlines Pilots' Association said Monday that the union reached an "agreement in principle" with the airline that would give raises to about 8,000 pilots.
Related: Fear & Greed Index
4. Ones to watch -- ITT, ARM, retailers: Shares in the for-profit educational provider ITT Educational Services (ESI) could take another big fall Tuesday after it announced it had stopped enrolling all new students.
This comes just days after the U.S. Department of Education announced it was banning the institution from enrolling new students that use federal financial aid. It's also stepping up oversight of the company because of concerns about "organizational integrity, financial viability and [its] ability to serve students."
Shares in the company have lost more than 80% of their value in the past week.
ARM Holdings (ARMH, Tech30) shareholders are voting Tuesday on SoftBank's (SFTBY) major takeover deal.
Softbank has offered £24.3 billion ($32 billion) in cash for the British tech firm, making it the biggest foreign takeover by a Japanese company.
A number of U.S. retailers are reporting earnings ahead of the bell. Get ready for market reaction to results from Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF), Christopher & Banks (CBK) and DSW (DSW).
5. Economics: The main U.S. economic reports out today will focus on housing and consumers.
The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for June comes out at 9 a.m. ET, giving insight into the state of the U.S. real estate market.
Then the Conference Board will release consumer confidence information for August at 10 a.m. Similar data released in Europe showed consumer confidence dipped in the eurozone in August.
And in the U.K., new data from the Bank of England shows mortgage approvals sank in July following the country's vote to leave the European Union. Mortgage approvals for home purchases were down 11% last month compared to the average of the previous six months.
Related: CNNMoney's Tech30
6. Global markets overview: U.S. stock futures are holding steady.
European markets are mostly positive in early trading, though mining companies are weighing on the main U.K. markets. Asian stocks are generally fairing well.
On Monday, The Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6%, while the S&P 500 added 0.5% and the Nasdaq inched 0.3% higher.

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Here's what you need to know about the markets before you start your business day.


Apple is holding its annual September product launch event on Wednesday, Sept. 7 to likely show off its next-generation iPhone.
The company, which sent out invitations to members of the press on Monday, is expected to unveil the rumored iPhone 7. The affair kicks off at 10:00 a.m. PT at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
In addition to a new iPhone, Tim Cook and his parade of executives will likely announce the official release dates for iOS 10, as well as the new macOS Sierra, watchOS 3, and tvOS 10 operating systems.
Related: Apple could be radically redesigning the iPhone
We could also see a new version of the 15-month old Apple Watch and updated MacBook Pros.
Apple's invitation lacks the usual tag line, which usually gives some vague hint as to the topic, or even just a sense of excitement. Instead, it says "See you on the 7th," without so much as an exclamation mark.
The background is black with a smattering of generic blurry lights -- a possible nod to rumors the iPhone may get an improved camera with a dual-lens system.
Other rumors include a missing headphone jack -- you'll need special headphones that plug into the Lightning port -- and a new blue color option.
Related: Steve Wozniak to Apple: Keep the iPhone's headphone jack
Apple typically holds one of its signature events every September, and they follow a predictable script. We will be there sharing the news as it happens, hoping for any exciting departure from the usual, so stay tuned!
(See Apple, it's not that hard to toss in an exclamation mark.)


Apple is expected to announce the latest iPhone at its annual Fall press event in San Francisco next week.


The man known as the "father" of Boeing's iconic 747 has died.
Joe Sutter, who led the engineering team that developed the world's original jumbo jet in the 1960s, died Tuesday at the age of 95, Boeing said.
In a tribute, Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner called Sutter "one of the giants of aerospace."
"His team, along with thousands of other Boeing employees involved in the project, became known as the Incredibles for producing what was then the world's largest airplane in record time -- 29 months from conception to rollout," Conner said. "It remains a staggering achievement."
Dubbed the "queen of the skies," the 747 has long been a favorite of the flying public. Conner credited it with "opening up affordable international travel and helping connect the world."
The aircraft made its commercial debut in 1970, and more than 1,500 have now been delivered.
Sutter was involved in other major plane projects at Boeing, including the the Dash 80, the 707 and the 737, according to the company. But it was the 747 "that secured his place in history," it said.
After retiring, he continued to work as a consultant to Boeing.
"By then, his hair was white and he moved a little slower, but he always had a twinkle in his eye, a sharp mind and an unwavering devotion to aerospace innovation," Conner said.
Related: Boeing could end production of its iconic 747 jumbo jet
Sutter's death comes at an uncertain time for the 747's future.
Boeing warned last month it could stop producing the jet if orders don't pick up. The company previously announced it would halve production of the aircraft from 12 per year to just six beginning in September.
-- Thom Patterson and Charles Riley contributed to this report.

Joe Sutter, Boeing's 'Father of the 747,' has died


Joe Sutter, who led the Boeing engineering team that developed the 747 jumbo jet in the 1960s, died Tuesday at the age of 95, the company said.


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Stars reveal their favorite music videos ever


Celebrities walking MTV's VMA white carpet tell CNN about their favorite music videos of all time.


Facebook CEO: 'We're a technology company. We're not a media company.'


With increasing concerns about Facebook's growing influence over the media, CEO Mark Zuckerberg insists,


What else can you possibly add to your resume after serving as president of the United States? Magazine editor, apparently.
President Obama will guest edit the November issue of Wired, which the magazine is touting as the first time a magazine has been edited by a sitting president.
The issue, scheduled to come out in October, will focus on "the next hurdles that humanity will need to overcome to move forward," according to an announcement Tuesday from Wired.
"These will include personal frontiers, from precision medicine to human performance; local frontiers, including using data in urban planning and making sure renewable energy works for everyone; national frontiers, from civil rights to medical data," Robert Capps, head of editorial at Wired, wrote in the announcement.
It will also include "international frontiers, like climate change and cybersecurity; and final frontiers, including space travel and Artificial Intelligence," according to Capps.
Related: Obama's staff is taking over Silicon Valley
The announcement comes just days after Wired endorsed Hillary Clinton, marking the magazine's first presidential endorsement in its 23-year history.
Clinton won Wired's praise for supporting net neutrality, pledging to strengthen the Affordable Care Act, and aiming to make immigration easier for people with STEM degrees.
The Obama administration has been particularly cozy with the technology industry that Wired covers.
Dozens of Obama staffers have left for jobs at companies like Google (GOOG), Facebook (FB, Tech30), Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and Uber -- and executives from some of these companies have also taken technology roles in the Obama administration.
Obama, like Clinton, has pushed for issues supported by Wired and the tech community, including entrepreneurship and the need for immigration reform for skilled workers.
Obama has even suggested he may be interested in doing some work as a venture capitalist after leaving office.


President Obama will guest edit the November issue of Wired, which the magazine is touting as the first time a magazine has been edited by a sitting president.


China's Hangzhou is hosting G20 leaders for the first time


Hangzhou is China's Silicon Valley and the booming capital of the country's richest province. World leaders are meeting here for a summit of G20 nations.


Imagine having so much gold that you lost your desire for more.
Global central banks have shown a seemingly-insatiable demand for gold since 2010, building up an enormous treasure chest of the precious metal.
But now there are signs of gold-buying fatigue from these powerful government institutions.
Gold purchases by global central bankers plunged by 40% during the second quarter, according to World Gold Council statistics. Last quarter was actually the weakest pace of gold buying by central banks since 2011, the stats show.
The five-year low for central bank gold purchases was earlier reported by Bloomberg News.
So why does it seem like gold is going out of style with the central banks?
Related: Why Leonardo DiCaprio is backing man-mad diamonds
The World Gold Council noted a "more limited" gold appetite in recent months from emerging market central bankers. It's likely a reflection of fewer dollars to invest at developing countries, where exports have plunged due to depressed prices for raw materials like crude oil, copper and iron ore.
"Emerging markets are dealing with a lot of headwinds. So you're going to see a slowdown in all of the assets they purchase," said Ezechial Copic, director of central banks and public policy at the World Gold Council.
Another problem is that the price of the yellow metal has increased sharply. Gold prices have surged 24% this year, thanks in part to bouts of turbulence in financial markets that left scared investors fleeing to alternatives. Gold tends to do well during times of volatility.
The good thing is that the value of gold being hoarded by central banks is also rising. They already hold a lot of it -- gold now makes up 3% of total reserves at emerging market central banks, up from zero in 2007.
Still, some central banks have actually cut their holdings. Central banks in Germany, Jordan and Ukraine were net sellers of gold during the second quarter.
Don't feel bad for central banks, though. They are sitting on an incredible 32,800 tons of gold, equaling about $1.4 trillion, according to the World Gold Council. That's the biggest amount since 2013.

These powerful gold buyers are losing their appetite


Global central banks are showing signs of gold buying fatigue. Gold demand at these powerful institutions recently dropped to a five-year low.


China has set up a new state-owned aviation firm to help meet one its top tech goals: building a world-class aircraft engine.
The new company, the Aero Engine Corp. of China (AECC), will be responsible for the research, development and manufacturing of aircraft engines and gas turbines, according to Chinese state media. The company has 50 billion yuan ($7.5 billion) in registered capital, and already boasts 96,000 employees.
The new firm is part of China's drive to become a global aviation player. Its establishment has been hailed a "strategic move" by President Xi Jinping, according to written remarks published by state media, and will help China's military reduce its reliance on foreign-made engines.
China has long struggled to build its own jet engines, and boosting its capabilities has been a priority as the country seeks to increase its military clout. Beijing's most recent five-year development plan identifies domestic development and production of engines and planes as a major goal.
But it's a difficult area to master, and China has generally relied heavily on technology from abroad. Over the past four years, engines accounted for 30% of all its imports, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The ARJ21, a Chinese commercial jet that started flying in June, uses engines produced by General Electric (GE).
Even the C919, a commercial airliner that China is developing in the hope of rivaling Boeing (BA), is using engines made by a U.S. and French joint venture.
Related: Why China wants U.S. military jet engines
In June, the U.S. convicted a woman in a Florida court of conspiring to evade export laws by illegally acquiring and sending fighter jet engines and drones to China, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Prosecutors said the woman was working with an associate in China to buy and export engines made by Pratt & Whitney and General Electric, which are found in a range of top U.S. military aircraft, including the F-35, F-22 and F-16 fighter jets.

China's new plan to build a world-class aircraft engine


China has set up a state-owned aircraft engine maker to boost its aerospace industry and support the military.


Coca-Cola says it has replenished all the water it used to make its drinks -- a first for the company.
The company has been criticized for its water use which ramped up after the anti-poverty group War On Want launched a campaign in 2007 to call attention to the issue using the slogan "Coca-Cola: Drinking the world dry."
But on Monday Coca-Cola (KO) announced that it returned an estimated 191.9 billion liters of water to nature and communities in 2015 through community water projects. That represents about 115% of the water used in Coca-Cola's beverages last year.
Its water use was audited by LimnoTech and Deloitte, and conducted in association with The Nature Conservancy. It also returned nearly all of the water used in its manufacturing process with 146 billion liters of treated wastewater.
"Every time a consumer drinks a Coca-Cola product, they can have confidence that our company and bottling partners are committed to responsible water use today and tomorrow," said Coke CEO Muhtar Kent.
Related: Coke debuts 'proud to be an American' cans
The company announced the goal of replenishing all the water it used in drinks by 2020 after the War on Want's 2007 campaign, and made good on its promise five years early through 248 community water partnership projects in 71 countries. The company said some projects return water directly to the source used by the company, while others meet needs of local communities where there is a pressing need.
"This achievement marks a moment of pride for Coca-Cola and our partners," said Kent. He said the company is "keenly aware" that its water stewardship work is unfinished, despite meeting its goal, and that it is exploring how to advance its water programs.
Related: Obesity group with ties to Coke shuts down
But Coca-Cola still has lots of critics when it comes to water use.
Last year when Coke announced it was close to replenishing that water it uses in India, the claim was disputed by the Centre for Research on Globalization, which put out its own report claiming that Coke can never be "water neutral."
It called Coke's claim of replenishment "a public relations exercise designed to manufacture an image of a company that uses water sustainably -- far removed from the reality on the ground."
India is a key market for Coca-Cola. But it has been ordered to shut down plants there due to local concerns about its water use , said the Centre's report.
"We find the company's assertions on balancing water use to be misleading," it wrote. "Replenishing an aquifer hundreds of miles away from the point of extraction, as Coca-Cola has often done to 'balance' their water use, has no bearing on the health of the local aquifer which Coca-Cola depletes through its bottling operations," nor on the deprivation of the people who depend upon it.

Coca-Cola: We're replenishing all of the water we use


Coca-Cola says is has met a goal of replenishing all of the water it uses five years ahead of schedule.


Would you pay $100 to see a movie?
Entertainment company Secret Cinema has convinced hundreds of thousands of people to do exactly that -- sometimes without telling them the title in advance.
But this is not a super expensive trip to your local multiplex. You get a lot more than popcorn and a screening.
"Instead of watching a film, you essentially are in the film...you live the film," said Fabien Riggall, founder of Secret Cinema, based in London.
Riggall says he offers an "immersive theatrical experience." And it appears to be working -- four shows over the past 18 months have attracted 180,000 people.
For some events, the movie is a mystery when tickets go on sale. The company's slogan is "Tell No One."
Each ticket holder is assigned a secret identity, and told what to wear and where to go, usually in a series of cryptic messages. For "Dr. Strangelove," they took the form of army dispatches. For "28 Days Later," the company sent out invitations to hospital appointments.
Once fans get to the venue -- often abandoned spaces transformed into a film set -- they become part of the movie. Actors in character encourage the audience to participate, giving them tasks and pulling them into the plot.
Related: Google's plan to bring VR to the masses
The company also organizes events based on cult classics where you know what you're getting -- at least in terms of the movie. Their most recent production of this kind -- "Dirty Dancing" -- brought in 30,000 people, each paying 68 pounds ($90) for a ticket.
Most arrived at a custom built holiday camp in east London dressed in full period costumes. Some even carried water melons, a nod to one of the movie's most memorable lines.
They took dance classes, played lawn games, and snacked in the "staff quarters." They watched the movie at the end of the evening, many quoting lines alongside the actors on the big screen.
The event in July was so popular it pushed "Dirty Dancing" back into the U.K. box office top 10, nearly 30 years after it was first released.
Related: How to build a $100 million company out of mud
Secret Cinema has had other big hits. Two years ago, it transformed a patch of tarmac in London's Olympic Park into a town complete with stores, a farm, a ferris wheel and a gas station for a series of "Back to the Future" shows.
Actors flew on zip lines above the audience and drove around in cars from the 1950s. When the famous Delorian made an appearance, the crowd roared with delight.
"I think people are hungry for experiences that would make them feel alive and connected to people," Riggall told CNNMoney.
Most people embrace the game, even ditching their phones for the night. Taking photos or using technology is strictly forbidden at Secret Cinema events. After all, they have to remain secret.
"Doing something secret in this day and age is really great, very special...like a little mystery," Riggall said.
Related: A 3D movie without those goofy glasses? MIT is working on it
Secret Cinema has grown from Riggall and a handful of other enthusiasts in 2003 to 15 full time staff and hundreds of contractors and freelancers. Over 200 people worked on "Dirty Dancing."
Last year's "Star Wars" show attracted 100,000 people. They spent the evening in an abandoned printing factory complete with Stormtrooper patrols and a replica of the Empire ship. At £75 ($100) a ticket, the company generated box office takings of roughly £7.5 million ($10 million).
Riggall, himself a film maker, said his company has tapped into what could be the future of cinema. He's developing a movie that would be shot specifically for Secret Cinema.
"If you can bring 20,000 people to a production when they don't know what they're going to see...that can change the way films are made," he said.
Given the success in the U.K., Riggall is naturally thinking about expanding into other countries. The U.S. is an obvious choice, but he said he doesn't want to rush it. "The moment has to be right," he said. The company has already hosted one-off events in New York and Berlin.

Secret Cinema: The company making millions from movies you've seen


Entertainment company Secret Cinema has convinced hundreds of thousands of people to do exactly that -- without even telling them the title in advance.


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Donald Trump says MSNBC and the co-host of


Why is the European Union going after Apple for $14 billion in unpaid taxes?
Consider this: In 2014, the corporate giant paid just $50 in tax for every million it made selling iPhones and iPads to most of the world outside America.
That's a tax rate of just 0.005%. Yes, you read that correctly.
So how was that allowed to happen?
Apple has funneled most of its profits from Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India through Ireland for decades. Nothing usual in that. Others do it too.
But under deals the company struck with the Irish government as far back as 1991, it was allowed to split these profits between its Ireland branch and an Apple head office that existed only on paper.
Apple paid the standard Irish tax rate on profits booked to its Ireland branch. Those it allocated to the phantom head office were tax free, because under Irish law it was then considered a "stateless company."
Guess where most of the profits went?
In 2011, Apple Sales International made 16 billion euros in profits. Less than 50 million euros were allocated to the Irish branch. The rest went to the "head office," out of reach of any tax authority.
It was an arrangement that also suited the Irish government.
Ireland has set its corporate tax rate at 12.5%, one of the lowest in Europe, to attract big companies to the country.
Apple (AAPL, Tech30), Google (GOOGL, Tech30), Facebook (FB, Tech30), eBay (EBAY) and Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) have all set up their EU headquarters in Ireland.
And with them came the jobs. Apple employes 6,000 people in Ireland, many of them making iMacs at a factory in Cork -- once a deprived city in the south of Ireland. Apple says it is the biggest private employer in the city.
EU states can set their own rate of tax. But European officials say Ireland's arrangements with Apple gave the company such a huge financial advantage over its competitors that it constituted illegal state aid.
Apple doesn't want to pay the tax even though the $14.6 billion, plus interest, it might have to repay constitutes just 5% of the $231 billion in cash it has on its books.
Ireland doesn't like the ruling either, calling it an "encroachment" into its sovereignty. The country said Apple has paid what it owed in Ireland.

How Apple paid just 0.005% tax on its global profits


Apple's effective tax rate in Ireland was just 0.005% in 2014. That means Apple paid $50 tax for every million it made.


Ireland must recover up to 13 billion euros ($14.6 billion) in unpaid taxes from Apple, Europe's top regulator ruled on Tuesday.
The tax ruling is by far the biggest the European Union has ever made regarding a single company, and it could spark a huge transatlantic row over how Europe treats big U.S. companies.
Apple shares fell almost 3% in premarket trading. The company will appeal the decision. It said the ruling upended the international tax system and would damage jobs and investment in Europe. Ireland also intends to appeal.
The Commission said the Irish government had granted illegal state aid to Apple (AAPL, Tech30) by helping the tech giant to artificially lower its tax bill for more than 20 years.
"Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies -- this is illegal under EU state aid rules," said Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, Europe's top antitrust official.
Apple paid tax at 1%, or less, on profits attributed to its subsidiaries in Ireland, well below the 35% top rate in the United States and even well below Ireland's 12.5% rate.
That prompted complaints by both European and U.S. lawmakers, who argued the deal gave Apple an unfair advantage in exchange for creating jobs in Ireland. CEO Tim Cook was even called to testify on Apple's tax deal before a Senate committee in 2013.
The bill for tax benefits, plus interest, covers 2003 to 2014. Apple has more than $231 billion in cash on its balance sheet to cushion the blow.
Related: U.S. warns EU: Don't hit Apple with a massive tax bill
Apple (AAPL, Tech30) is not the only American company that has recently found itself under scrutiny over its European tax affairs.
The European Commission ordered Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler to repay millions in taxes last October.
Starbucks (SBUX) has to pay back up to 30 million euros it saved thanks to a sweetheart tax deal with the Netherlands. Fiat Chrysler (FCAM) was ordered to repay a similar amount after a similar deal with Luxembourg.
Both companies have appealed the decisions.
Related: France going 'all the way' to collect tax from Google, McDonald's
The EU is also probing the tax arrangements of Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) and McDonald's (MCD). Google (GOOG) is under investigation over its taxes in France and a couple of other European countries.
The ruling against Apple's tax deal comes despite a stern warning from the U.S. last week. The Treasury Department urged the European Commission to stop its tax crackdown on American companies, saying it would consider "potential responses" if Brussels doesn't change course.

Europe hits Apple with $14.6 billion tax bill


The European Commission has ordered Ireland to recover unpaid taxes, plus interest, from Apple dating back to 2003.