Wednesday’s business headlines

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Here’s a look at Wednesday’s business headlines.

Postal profit

E-commerce drove the post office to its fist profit in years.

The postal service said 1.1 billion packages were delivered during the holiday season.

The post office says the profitable results may not be sustained.

Costco chicken

A Costco-owned slaughtehouse is being accused of engaging in “cruel” animal practices.

This includes cramming chickens into “filthy sheds” and breeding them to grow to an unnatural weight.

Representative for Lincoln Premium try did not immediately return Fox Business’ request for comment.

AI and COVID

A team of Danish researchers claims that artificial intelligence software they have developed can predict – with 90% accuracy – whether an uninfected person will die from COVID-19.

It does this by being fed data on the person’s underlying health conditions.

It has already found that body mass index, age, high blood pressure and being male were the highest risk factors.

Library fees

Overdue fees are going away at many libraries amid the pandemic economic crisis.

Since March, dozens of libraries have abolished the fees, citing the economic barrier they create for low-income patrons.

Libraries say once the crisis is over they will evaluate late book fees.