In brief: ConocoPhillips to cut 1,800 more jobs

NEW YORK – Energy company ConocoPhillips, which has already cut 1,000 jobs this year, says it will eliminate around 1,810 more positions following a plunge that took oil prices to their lowest levels in years.

The company said Tuesday it is eliminating 10 percent of its workforce. The biggest proportion of the job cuts will be in North America. ConocoPhillips plans to eliminate more than 500 jobs in Houston, where it is based.

ConocoPhillips had 18,100 employees on June 30.

INDIANAPOLIS – The former director of a foundation created by longtime Subway spokesman Jared Fogle has agreed to plead guilty to 12 counts of child exploitation and one count of child pornography, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

Under the plea agreement, Russell Taylor, 44, cannot ask for a sentence of less than 15 years in prison and prosecutors can ask for a sentence of up to 35 years, followed by supervised release for the remainder of his life, prosecutors said. The judge presiding over his case is not bound by the terms.

Taylor until earlier this year led the Jared Foundation, which raises awareness and money to fight childhood obesity. He is in federal custody. Fogle, who faces federal charges of distribution and receipt of child pornography and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor, is expected to plead guilty at a Nov. 19 hearing. He has been released on home detention.

Feds: Fewer Takata air bags defective

DETROIT – Federal regulators have lowered their estimate of potentially defective Takata Corp. air bags on U.S. roads.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says about 23.4 million driver and passenger air bag inflators on 19.2 million vehicles are being recalled and need to be replaced. That’s lower than its initial estimate of 34 million inflators.

The agency says some air bags from multiple recalls were counted twice. Takata also included some air bags sold overseas in numbers it gave to the government.

The agency says 4.4 million air bag inflators have already been replaced.

FDA warns caffeine distributors of risk

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Food and Drug Administration has issued warning letters to five distributors of pure powdered caffeine.

The letters, which are dated Aug. 27, follow two overdose deaths last year.

The agency said in a statement Tuesday that it sent the warning letters to the distributors “because these products are dangerous and present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury to consumers.”

A teaspoon of pure powdered caffeine is roughly equivalent to 28 cups of coffee, according to the FDA.