Today’s News
Meta prevails in historic FTC antitrust case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Meta has prevailed over an existential challenge to its business that could have forced the tech giant to spin off Instagram and WhatsApp after a judge ruled that the company does not hold a monopoly in social networking. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued his ruling after the historic antitrust trial wrapped up in late May. His decision runs in contrast to two separate rulings that branded Google an illegal monopoly [...]
FlyDubai orders 75 Boeing aircraft
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — FlyDubai, the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates, said it ordered 75 additional Boeing 737 MAX aircraft in a deal worth $13 billion. The announcements came after FlyDubai earlier at the Dubai Air Show made a major Airbus A321neo purchase of 150 aircraft for $24 billion. Since its first flight in 2009, FlyDubai had only flown Boeing 737s, making the sale a major win for the European consortium at the [...]
Court pauses California’s climate-related risk statute
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court has paused a California law set to take effect in January requiring large companies to report every two years on how climate change could hurt them financially. Another new law requiring major companies to annually disclose their carbon emissions can stay in place for now, the court ruled. The policies would be the most sweeping of their kind in the nation, and proponents say they would increase [...]
Education Dept. takes step toward shutting down
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Education Department is handing off some of its biggest grant programs to other federal agencies as the Trump administration accelerates its plan to shut down the department. It represents a major step forward for the administration’s dismantling of the department, which has mainly involved cutting jobs since President Donald Trump called for its elimination with an executive action in March. Six new agreements signed by the Education Department will effectively [...]
Settlement gives NPR $36M in funds to operate public radio
WASHINGTON (AP) — National Public Radio will receive approximately $36 million in grant money to operate the nation’s public radio interconnection system under the terms of a court settlement with the federal government’s steward of funding for public broadcasting stations. The settlement partially resolves a legal dispute in which NPR accused the Corporation for Public Broadcasting of bowing to pressure from President Donald Trump to cut off its funding. On March 25, Trump said at [...]
Nation’s trade deficit drops 24 percent
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s trade deficit fell by nearly 24 percent in August as President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs pushed imports lower. In a report delayed for more than seven weeks by the federal government shutdown, the Commerce Department said that the gap between what the United States buys from other countries and what it sells them fell to $59.6 billion in August, from $78.2 billion in July. Imports of goods and services [...]
Microsoft to partner with Anthropic and Nvidia on AI infrastructure deal
Microsoft has announced that it is partnering with artificial-intelligence company Anthropic and chipmaker Nvidia as part of an AI infrastructure deal that moves the software giant further away from its longtime alliance with OpenAI. Anthropic, maker of the chatbot Claude that competes with OpenAI’s ChatGPT, said it is committed to buying $30 billion in computing capacity from Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. As part of the partnership, Nvidia will also invest up to $10 billion [...]
Federal Reserve unveils new guidelines for supervision of the financial system
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve’s top banking regulator last week released new guidelines for the agency’s supervision of the financial system, earning praise from industry trade groups and criticism from her predecessor. In a set of sweeping changes, the principles call for bank examiners to focus on material financial risks and to “not become distracted from this priority by devoting excessive attention to processes, procedures and documentation.” The guidelines are set out in a [...]
Target’s profit falls 19 percent in latest quarter; retailer vows to invest in stores
NEW YORK (AP) — Target’s third-quarter profit fell as the retailer struggles to lure shoppers. The Minneapolis company earlier this week said that it expects its sales slump to extend through the holiday shopping season. The company also announced that it’s planning to invest another billion dollars next year to remodel stores, build new ones, increasing the total cost for the makeover to $5 billion. Investors have punished Target’s stock recently, sending it down 43 [...]
Revenue up at Home Depot last quarter
Home Depot’s third-quarter results were mixed due to fewer violent storms reaching shore, more anxiety among consumers and a sluggish housing market, company officials said. The company lowered its fiscal 2025 adjusted earnings forecast but raised its expectations for sales growth. For the three months that ended Nov. 2, Home Depot earned $3.6 billion, or $3.62 per share. A year earlier it earned $3.65 billion, or $3.67 per share. Removing one-time charges and benefits, earnings [...]
Legal News
Judge set to OK Purdue Pharma settlement deal
A judge last week said that he planned to approve a deal for OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the Sackler family who own [...]
Court-appointed lawyers, clients face fallout from shutdown
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The longest federal government shutdown in history is officially over, but the fallout will continue to hit two groups particularly hard [...]
EU investigates Google over media content
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union regulators last week said they’re investigating whether Google is unfairly demoting some content from media publishers in search results under [...]
Business News
Novo cuts prices for Wegovy
Novo Nordisk is chopping prices again for Wegovy, but doctors say the expense will remain challenging for patients without insurance. The drugmaker said it has [...]
Walmart CEO to retire in January
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who turned the nation’s largest retailer into a tech-powered giant since taking over in 2014, will retire [...]
Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern shareholders back $85B merger
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Shareholders of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern backed the railroad operators’ proposed $85 billion merger to create the nation’s first coast-to-coast [...]
Real Estate
White House’s 50-year mortgage plan comes with a number of possible drawbacks
NEW YORK (AP) — The White House says it is considering backing a 50-year mortgage to help alleviate the home affordability crisis in the country. [...]
Army Corps OKs reroute of pipeline
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has approved energy company Enbridge’s plans to reroute an aging oil pipeline around a northern [...]
JPMorgan Chase unveils 60-story HQ
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase unveiled its new 60-story headquarters to the public this week, one of the first major office buildings to be [...]
Politics
Growing number of cities and states are using AI to improve road safety
As the nation’s aging roads fall further behind on much-needed repairs, cities and states are turning to artificial intelligence to spot the worst hazards and [...]
States want proof new data centers will be built before underwriting costs to supply their power
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Many utilities say they’ll need two or three times more electricity within a few years to power massive new data centers [...]
Enrollment of foreign students at American colleges remains mostly unchanged
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of foreign students enrolled at American colleges has only declined 1 percent this school year, according to a new report [...]