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Apple Inc acknowledged on Wednesday it needs to address manufacturing partners' carbon emissions and its own rising water consumption, though the iPhone maker said it had cut back sharply on greenhouse gas output. _0"> Apple last year hired former Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to push cleaner initiatives, amid past criticism over its emissions and use of toxic materials. Observers say it has improved its practices and earned better scores from groups such as Greenpeace. On Wednesday, Apple released its 2014 environmental responsibility report, saying investments in renewable energy helped slash its carbon footprint from energy use by 31 percent from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013. That's despite power consumption soaring 44 percent over the same period. ( here ) But the company, which is building its future main campus not far from its current base in Silicon Valley, said water usage had spiked as a result of general construction and expansion. It

Apple Inc acknowledged on Wednesday it needs to address manufacturing partners' carbon emissions and its own rising water consumption, though the iPhone maker said it had cut back sharply on greenhouse gas output. _0"> Apple last year hired former Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson to push cleaner initiatives, amid past criticism over its emissions and use of toxic materials. Observers say it has improved its practices and earned better scores from groups such as Greenpeace. On Wednesday, Apple released its 2014 environmental responsibility report, saying investments in renewable energy helped slash its carbon footprint from energy use by 31 percent from fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013. That's despite power consumption soaring 44 percent over the same period. ( here ) But the company, which is building its future main campus not far from its current base in Silicon Valley, said water usage had spiked as a result of general construction and expansion. It

The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. _0"> * With countries in the European Union obliged to reduce their debt as a percentage of their economies, the quantifying of vice is expected to make growth rates look rosier. ( nyti.ms/1ol0Twa ) * Chinese hackers in March broke into the computer networks of the United States government agency that houses the personal information of all federal employees, according to senior American officials. They appeared to be targeting the files on tens of thousands of employees who have applied for top-secret security clearances. ( nyti.ms/1mL8sRb ) * A growing category in health care promises an alternative to the hospital emergency room and perhaps the family practitioner, with low fees and extended hours. Once derided as "Doc in a Box" medicine, urgent care has mushroomed into an estimated $14.5 billion business. ( n

The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. _0"> * Federal Reserve officials agreed at June's policy meeting to end their bond-buying program in October, putting an explicit end date on the experiment for the first time. Most officials at the June meeting also indicated that they expect an interest rate hike to come next year. ( on.wsj.com/VLc1vo ) * IBM on Wednesday pledged to spend $3 billion over five years on semiconductor research. The money will be directed toward two major tasks: tackling technical obstacles to the miniaturization of circuitry on conventional silicon chips and developing alternative materials and technologies to keep boosting computing speed while consuming less energy. ( on.wsj.com/1nffCfJ ) * The Education Department says it was unaware of the dire state of Corinthian Colleges Inc's finances before it moved June 12 to restrict access to fede

Silent Circle, a company known for mobile apps designed to thwart government surveillance, is introducing a fixed price, secrecy-cloaking service on Thursday that lets customers make and receive private phone calls. The secure voice-and-data calling plan works on Apple iOS and Android smartphones and, eventually, on Windows Mobile systems, the company said. Callers can reach 79 countries, including China, Russia, most of Europe and the Americas. Large parts of the Middle East and Africa are not covered. The service aims to challenge not just traditional phone carriers - who still by and large charge steep roaming fees to international travelers - but also to newer, voice-over-Internet services that have sprung up over the past decade. For while Silent Circle undercuts major competitors' roaming costs in many countries, the service's basic attraction lies in its security features. "What Silent Circle is offering is an augmented level of security beyond what normal pho

U.S. security software maker Symantec Corp said it is holding discussions with authorities in Beijing after a state-controlled Chinese newspaper reported that the Ministry of Public Security had banned the use of one of its products. _0"> The China Daily reported on July 4 that the ministry had issued an order to branches across the nation telling them to uninstall Symantec's data loss prevention, or DLP, products from their systems, saying the software "could pose information risks." The newspaper also said Chinese news site Sohu.com had reported that the public security bureau had banned Symantec's DLP products from future procurement projects. ( bit.ly/1okVF3v ) Symantec spokeswoman Colleen Lacter told Reuters that her company was in discussions with the Chinese government about the matter, though she declined to confirm or deny the newspaper's account of what had happened. "The discussions are ongoing and it's premature to go into detail

Lee Brian Schrager's passion for fried chicken led him to travel around the United States and convince celebrity and local chefs to share their recipes in his new cookbook "Fried & True." In the book co-written with Adeena Sussman, Schrager shares more than 50 recipes for fried chicken from his contributors including double fried chicken and another with Asian-inspired ingredients. The 55-year-old founder of the Food Network South Beach and New York City Wine & Food Festivals spoke to Reuters about what makes the best fried chicken and sharing recipes. Q: What is the secret to making great fried chicken? A: The right temperature with the frying oil. If the oil is too hot, it’s going to be burnt on the outside and raw on the inside. If it’s too cold, it will get too greasy. Starting the oil at 370 degree Fahrenheit (188 degree Celsius) is the key. Q: What do you look for in fried chicken? A: Very, very crunchy on the outside and still juicy on the inside.