Wire stories category, Page 7
Retail sales slow in April after a spending splurge as Americans sought to front-run tariffs
WASHINGTON — U.S. consumers spent slightly more at retail stores last month after ramping up their shopping in March to get ahead of tariffs. Sales at retail stores and restaurants rose just 0.1% in April from March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. That is much lower than the previous month’s...
Chris Brown arrested in UK for alleged attack at London club in 2023
LONDON — Singer Chris Brown was arrested Thursday in England for allegedly hitting someone with a bottle in a London nightclub in 2023. The Metropolitan Police did not name Brown but said it took a 36-year-old into custody at a Manchester hotel on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm. Under...
Average rate on a U.S. 30-year mortgage rises to 6.81%, its highest level since late April
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. edged above 6.8% this week, returning to where it was just three weeks ago. The rate increased to 6.81% from 6.76% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year ago, the rate averaged 7.02%. Borrowing costs on 15-year...
UN aid chief defends using ‘genocide’ in Gaza remarks to the Security Council that Israel rejects
UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations’ humanitarian chief has defended using the term “genocide” to describe what aid workers are trying to prevent in Gaza, saying the world should not make the same mistakes seen in past violations of international law, when it wasn’t “called out soon enough.” Tom Fletcher,...
Walmart says it will raise prices due to tariff costs after posting solid first quarter sales
NEW YORK — Walmart’s first-quarter profit slipped, and it said it must raise prices due to higher costs from tariffs implemented by President Donald Trump. The nation’s largest retailers posted strong quarterly sales Thursday and said it expects sales growth of 3.5% to 4.5% in the second quarter. Like many...
Thai officials seize over 200 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from U.S.
BANGKOK — Thai officials on Wednesday said they seized 238 tons of illegally imported electronic waste from the United States at the port of Bangkok, one of the biggest lots they’ve found this year. The waste, which came in 10 large containers, was declared as mixed metal scrap but turned...
Feds ask Elon Musk’s car company how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents in Texas rollout
NEW YORK — Federal safety regulators have asked Elon Musk’s car company to explain how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents when they hit the road in Texas next month before a national “robotaxi” launch that is key to keeping its stock price aloft. Tesla has been told to...
Nissan slashes 15% of its global work force as the Japan automaker sinks into losses
TOKYO — Nissan is slashing about 15% of its global work force, or about 20,000 employees, as the Japanese automaker reported a loss Tuesday for the fiscal year that just ended amid slipping vehicle sales in China and other nations, and towering restructuring costs. Nissan Motor Corp. said it will...
Tariffs may have pushed up inflation a bit in April, government report to show
WASHINGTON — Inflation may have picked up slightly last month as President Donald Trump’s widespread tariffs kicked in, a trend economists expect will become more visible in the coming months. Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 2.4% in April compared with a year earlier, according to data provider FactSet,...
As Biden-era ‘junk fee’ rule takes effect, Ticketmaster says it will display fees more clearly
As a Biden administration ban on so-called “junk fees” took effect Monday, Ticketmaster said it would start displaying the full price of a ticket as soon as consumers begin shopping. Ticketmaster, long a subject of complaints about its hidden fees, was among those targeted by the new rule, which was...
Dow leaps 1,100 points and S&P 500 rallies 3.3% following a 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war
NEW YORK — Stocks rallied Monday after China and the United States announced a 90-day truce in their trade war. Each of the world’s two largest economies agreed to take down temporarily most of its tariffs against the other, which economists had warned could start a recession and create shortages...
Economic jitters and soaring gold prices create a frenzy for U.S. jewelry merchants
LOS ANGELES — At the biggest jewelry center in the United States, Alberto Hernandez fired up his machine on a recent day and waited until it glowed bright orange inside before shoveling in an assortment of rings, earrings and necklaces weighing about as much as a bar of soap: just...
Experts call Kennedy’s plan to find autism’s cause unrealistic
WASHINGTON — For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ‘s promise for “pulling back the curtain” to find autism’s causes in a few months is jarring — and unrealistic. That’s because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role — and...
An earthquake of 4.1 preliminary magnitude has been reported in Tennessee and was felt in Atlanta
ATLANTA — An earthquake of 4.1 preliminary magnitude was reported Saturday morning in Tennessee and was felt in Atlanta, western North Carolina and elsewhere, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and local news reports. The website for USGS said the earthquake originated shortly after 9 a.m. EDT about 12 miles...
Google will pay Texas $1.4B to settle claims the company collected users’ data without permission
Google will pay $1.4 billion to Texas to settle claims the company collected users’ data without permission, the state’s attorney general announced Friday. In 2022, Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Google, saying the search giant collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and records of face geometry, through its products...
Barbie doll prices spike as Trump tariffs loom
With President Donald Trump warning that his tariff policy may cause the price of toys to spike, a Barbie with swimsuit accessories that cost $10.49 on April 16 is now selling at Target for $14.99 — marking a 43% increase. While it’s not clear if the higher price is directly...
Federal Reserve leaves key rate unchanged as it sees risk of higher prices and higher unemploymentVideo
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve kept its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday, brushing off President Donald Trump’s demands to lower borrowing costs, and said that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen. The Fed kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it...
Wall Street loses ground, breaking 9-day winning streak, and crude oil prices tumbleVideo
NEW YORK — Stocks closed lower Monday on Wall Street, breaking a nine-day winning streak, as oil prices hit a four-year low after the OPEC+ group announced plans to increase output. The losses came amid a relatively calm day of mostly mixed trading. They follow several weeks of gains that...
OpenAI reverses course, says its nonprofit will continue to control its business
After months spent pursuing a plan to convert itself into a for-profit business, OpenAI is reversing course and said Monday its nonprofit will continue to control the company that makes ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence products. “We made the decision for the nonprofit to stay in control after hearing from...
Rite Aid returns to bankruptcy protection as it seeks to sell all assets
Rite Aid is again seeking bankruptcy protection as the struggling drugstore chain says it will try to sell substantially all of its assets. The company said Monday that its stores will remain open as it returns to Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The company said it will work to ensure that...
‘Thunderbolts’ kicks off the summer movie season with $76 million at the box office
NEW YORK — Marvel Studios’ “Thunderbolts” opened with $76 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, kicking off the summer box office with a solid No. 1 debut that fell shy of Marvel’s more spectacular launches. All eyes had been on whether “Thunderbolts” — a team-up of...
Putin says he hopes there will be no need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine had not arisen and that he hopes it will not. In comments aired Sunday in a film by Russian state television about his quarter of a century in power, Putin said Russia has the strength...
How the stock market made back all its losses after Trump escalated the trade war
It felt much longer, but the U.S. stock market needed just a few weeks to roar all the way back to where it was on President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day.” That’s when he shocked Wall Street by announcing much steeper tariffs than expected on nearly all U.S. trading partners. Those...
Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year
OMAHA, Neb. — Warren Buffett shocked an arena full of his shareholders Saturday by announcing that he wants to retire at the end of the year. Buffett said he will recommend to Berkshire Hathaway’s board that Greg Abel should become CEO at the end of the year. “I think the...
Steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs to idle 3 steel plants in Pennsylvania and Illinois
HARRISBURG — Steelmaker Cleveland-Cliffs will indefinitely idle three steel plants this summer, saying Friday it is being buffeted by sluggish demand and pricing for some products, including high carbon steel sheets. The company said the idling of two Pennsylvania plants, one in Steelton and one in Conshohocken, and one in...
