AP National Business

By EDEN STIFFMAN of The Chronicle of Philanthropy Chronicle of Philanthropy While grantmakers have historically put more resources into elementary and secondary education than early childhood, support for the youngest learners is on the rise. From 2006 to 2013, foundations overall gave at least $4.6 billion to support early-childhood education, according to data from Candid.

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The U.S. housing market has gone from red-hot to decidedly tepid since the spring, though you wouldn’t know it by this summer’s sharp rebound in homebuilder’s stocks. The rally by homebuilders follows a pullback in mortgage rates since June, suggesting investors are already looking ahead

By MATTHEW BROWN and MICHAEL PHILLIS Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — The U.S. oil industry hit a legal roadblock in January when a judge struck down a $192 million oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico over future global warming emissions from burning the fuels. It came at a pivotal

By MARK STEVENSON Associated Press TULUM, Mexico (AP) — Unchecked development has hit the once laid back beach town of Tulum on Mexico’s Caribbean coast. It’s so intense that developers are now eager to build condominiums and hotels even in a shantytown. Police are trying to evict squatters so towering condos can be built next

By ALEX VEIGA AP Business Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — The housing market’s comedown from its high-flying days early this year is deepening, with home sales in July falling for the sixth straight month. Sharply higher mortgage rates, surging inflation and prices that remain near all-time highs are making homes less affordable. The National Association

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates came back down slightly this week after the key 30-year loan rate jumped nearly a quarter point last week. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reports that the 30-year rate fell to 5.13% from 5.22% last week. The rate stood at 2.86% a

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong officials say they are seeking the return of citizens who traveled to Southeast Asia for jobs that entrapped them in scams and virtual slavery. The victims, who also came from Taiwan and mainland China, took jobs in call centers that sought to cheat Chinese speakers into making payments on

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek authorities say another sailboat carrying dozens of migrants has arrived at the island of Kythera. The boat that reached the island on Thursday is the third in just under two days to make it to Kythera. The southern island is not on the usual route for asylum-seekers trying to reach

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Dubai court has found that a cargo ship’s mishandled peroxide caused an explosion at the city-state’s busy Jebel Ali port in 2021, a blast felt through the emirate. That’s according to a report on Thursday by Abu Dhabi’s English-language newspaper The National. The Dubai Misdemeanor Court sentenced five

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s president has appointed a caretaker governor of the central bank amid a grinding economic crisis triggered by the Russian war on Ukraine. President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi on Thursday named Hassan Abdullah, a former banker, as the central bank’s new chief. This comes a day after the resignation of Tarek Amer, who

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to stand out as one of the strongest segments of the U.S. economy. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending August 13 fell by 2,000 to 250,000, the Labor Department reported

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey’s central bank has lowered its key interest rate despite inflation surging to nearly 80% and making it difficult for people to buy what they need. Following a monetary policy committee meeting Thursday, the bank said it decided to reduce the policy rate from 14% to 13%. The decision is in

By MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A top executive at former President Donald Trump’s family business pleaded guilty Thursday to evading taxes on a free apartment and other perks, striking a deal with prosecutors that could make him a star witness against the company at a trial this fall. Allen Weisselberg,

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz says the government will temporarily lower taxes on natural gas to ease the financial pressure on people struggling with soaring energy costs. The announcement Thursday at a hastily convened news conference in Berlin comes a day after Scholz met with hostile protests during a town hall event outside

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A Moroccan court has sentenced 13 migrants to two and a half years in prison over a mass attempt to scale the border fence separating Morocco from the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Most were from Sudan. The decision was the latest and toughest ruling handed down after dozens of people were

By SYLVIA HUI Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Thousands of train workers in Britain have staged a fresh round of strikes that is paralyzing rail services across the country. Only around one in five trains was running across the U.K. as a result of Thursday’s walkout by union members in an ongoing dispute over pay

By SYLVIE CORBET and COLLEEN BARRY Associated Press PARIS (AP) — Violent thunderstorms and hurricane-force winds in France and Italy have left at least eight people dead. The winds uprooted trees and ripped away a restaurant roof on Thursday. The French weather service says the storm produced gusts of more than 220 kph (136 mph)

MILAN (AP) — Firefighters worked Thursday to put out the remnants of two wildfires on a Sicilian island that forced fashion designer Giorgio Armani and dozens of others to flee their vacation villas overnight. A photo from the island of Pantelleria showed flames appearing to encroach on Armani’s villa, but the Italian designer’s press office

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — Algeria’s civil protection agency says wildfires raging in the country’s east have killed at least 37 people and wounded 161 others. Most of the victims were reported in the wilaya, or region, of El Tarf, near the northern Algeria-Tunisian border, where 34 people were found dead. The death toll included a

By DEREK GATOPOULOS and SUZAN FRASER Associated Press LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Turkey’s leader and the U.N. chief met in Ukraine with President Volodymr Zelenskyy on Thursday in a high-powered bid to ratchet down a war raging for nearly six months. But little immediate progress was reported. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would

By JOHNSON LAI and JOE McDONALD Associated Press HUALIEN, Taiwan (AP) — The U.S. government will hold talks with Taiwan on a trade agreement in a sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy China claims as its own territory. The announcement comes after Beijing launched military drills that included firing missiles into the seas

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — The U.S. government says it will hold talks with Taiwan on a trade treaty in a new sign of support for the self-ruled island democracy claimed by China’s ruling Communist Party as part of its territory. The announcements comes after Beijing launched military drills that included

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle CEO who announced in 2015 that he was giving himself a drastic pay cut to help cover the cost of big raises for his employees has announced his resignation. Dan Price, the embattled CEO of credit card processing company Gravity Payments, resigned Wednesday, The Seattle Times reported. Price stunned his

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon appears to be getting the TikTok bug, joining other companies seeking to hold consumers’ attention by introducing replicas of the popular social platform. According to the artificial intelligence firm Watchful Technologies, the e-commerce giant has been testing a feed on its app that enables

By KEVIN McGILL and MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judge’s order that forced the Biden administration to resume sales of oil and gas leases on federal land and waters was vacated Wednesday by a federal appeals court in New Orleans. It was at least a temporary victory for President Joe Biden

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The chairman and CEO of a New Orleans-based utility is retiring and his successor as CEO has been chosen. Entergy Corp. is one of two Louisiana companies in the Fortune 500. It announced Wednesday that 62-year-old Leo Denault has announced plans to retire, and the board of directors has elected Chief

The Associated Press Stocks closed lower on Wall Street, led by drops in big technology companies and erasing the S&P 500′s gains for the week. The S&P 500 fell 0.7% Wednesday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Nasdaq also fell. Small-company stocks fell more than the rest of the market. Wall Street was

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Wednesday: Target, Krispy Kreme fall; Hill International, Lowe’s rise.

By SUMAN NAISHADHAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona and Nevada residents won’t face bans on watering their lawns or washing their cars despite more Colorado River water shortages. But U.S. officials announced Tuesday there will be less water available next year for them from the river that serves 40 million people in the West

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The CEO of Bank of America said the recent debate over whether the U.S. economy is technically in a recession or not is missing the point. What matters is that current economic conditions are negatively impacting those who are most vulnerable. Brian Moynihan told The

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for September delivery rose $1.58 to $88.11 a barrel Wednesday. Brent crude for October delivery rose $1.31 to $93.65 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for September delivery rose 3 cents to $2.93 a gallon. September heating oil rose 14 cents to $3.62 a gallon. September natural gas fell 9

DALLAS (AP) — The federal government is suing SkyWest Airlines on behalf of a former employee who says co-workers sexually harassed her, including asking her for sex and making explicit comments about rape in her presence. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that SkyWest discriminated against the woman by

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Two oil and gas companies have announced plans to invest $2.6 billion into developing a major oil field on Alaska’s North Slope. The Anchorage Daily News reports that Australia-based Santos and Spain-based Repsol made the announcement Tuesday. The announcement was cheered by state political leaders. Santos has a 51% stake in

By KEN RITTER Associated Press LAS VEGAS (AP) — A defense attorney raised questions Wednesday about the mental health of his client, a 33-year-old California man accused of causing panic early Sunday during his second arrest in two days at busy Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas. A judge granted the attorney’s request Wednesday

DETROIT (AP) — The trend of rising U.S. traffic deaths that began two years ago is continuing into 2022. Roadway deaths rose 7% during the first three months of the year to an estimated 9,560 people. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that’s the highest number for a first quarter in two decades. Traffic

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Bank of America says the revenue it gets from overdrafts has dropped 90% from a year ago, after the bank reduced overdraft fees to $10 from $35 and eliminated fees for bounced checks. The nation’s largest banks are moving away from the practice of charging

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The major freight railroads signaled they’re ready to negotiate a new deal based on a presidential report that calls for 24% raises, but the 12 unions involved in the stalled talks covering 115,000 workers still haven’t commented on the recommendations. The group that represents BNSF,

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden’s government says it wants to pass legislation forcing the country’s public power transmission network operator to help reduce household and business electricity bills this winter. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, whose Social Democratic minority government faces parliamentary elections next month, said Wednesday the proposal would cost Svenska kraftnat at least 30 billion

By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press CODY, Wyo. (AP) — The rush to build wind farms to combat climate change is colliding with preservation of one of the U.S. West’s most spectacular predators — the golden eagle — as the species teeters on the edge of decline. Ground zero in the conflict is Wyoming, a stronghold

BERLIN (AP) — A cargo ship that broke down on the Rhine River caused a backup of other ships near the German town of St. Goar. The ship blocked the river until midday Wednesday, when it was towed downstream to the town of Bingen. Water police said other ships heading in the same direction would

By PAUL WISEMAN and ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The pace of sales at U.S. retailers was unchanged last month as persistently high inflation and rising interest rates forced many Americans to spend more cautiously. Retail purchases were flat after having risen 0.8% in June, the Commerce Department reported Wednesday. Economists had

By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press Two former Pennsylvania judges who orchestrated a scheme to send children to for-profit jails in exchange for kickbacks were ordered to pay more than $200 million to hundreds of people they victimized in one of the worst judicial scandals in U.S. history. U.S. District Judge Christopher Conner awarded $106 million

By BARBARA ORTUTAY and AMANDA SEITZ The Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Social media companies are offering few specifics as they share their plans for safeguarding the U.S. midterm elections. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter are generally staying the course from the 2020 voting season, which was marred by conspiracies and culminated in the

LONDON (AP) — Elon Musk caused a stir by tweeting that he was buying the English soccer team Manchester United — whose current owners are opposed by many fans — then saying several hours later that it was a joke. It comes as the billionaire Tesla CEO faces a legal battle in the U.S. after

By KRISTIN SHAW Edmunds The 2022 Acura RDX received a number of updates for 2022, while the Genesis GV70 is a fresh newcomer. These two SUVs are highly rated and could be a good match for you if you’re looking for a five-passenger SUV with better-than-average amenities. Which one should you buy? Edmunds compared them

By DUSAN STOJANOVIC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Wartime rivals Serbia and Kosovo will hold high-level crisis talks which the European Union mediators hope will de-escalate growing tensions in the Balkans. Russia has been trying to further increase its influence in the region amid the war in Ukraine. Hopes that the rare face-to-face meeting

By ANNE D’INNOCENZIO AP Retail Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Target has reported solid sales for the fiscal second quarter but its profits plunged nearly 90% because it slashed prices to clear unwanted inventories of clothing, home goods and other discretionary items. The weaker-than-expected profit came two months after Target warned it was canceling orders

By BRIAN SLODYSKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s leading abortion rights advocacy organization, Planned Parenthood, plans to spend a record $50 million ahead of November’s midterm elections. It’s pouring money into contests where access to abortion will be on the ballot. The effort comes about two months after the Supreme Court overturned the

By PAUL BYRNE Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A spate of explosions and fires has turned Russian-occupied Crimea from a secure rear base into a new battleground in the war, demonstrating both the Russians’ vulnerability and the Ukrainians’ capacity to strike deep behind enemy lines. Nine Russian warplanes were reported destroyed at an air

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street lower Thursday after the Federal Reserve said U.S. inflation is too high, suggesting support for more aggressive interest rate hikes. Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney declined. Oil prices edged higher. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index lost 0.7% on

By CIARÁN GILES and ILAN BEN ZION Associated Press MADRID (AP) — While vacationers might enjoy the Mediterranean Sea’s summer warmth, climate scientists are warning of dire consequences for its marine life as it burns up in a series of severe heat waves. From Barcelona to Tel Aviv, scientists say they are witnessing exceptional temperature

By JOSH FUNK AP Business Writer OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The special board appointed by President Joe Biden to intervene in stalled railroad contract talks has suggested that 115,000 rail workers should get 24% raises and thousands of dollars in bonuses as part of a new agreement to avert a strike. Railroads and unions will

By BOB CHRISTIE Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Republican Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and backers of universal school vouchers are taking a victory lap over legislation the Republican-controlled Legislature enacted in June giving the state the nation’s most expansive voucher system. Ducey also used the time at a Christian school in Phoenix on Tuesday to

By HALELUYA HADERO AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon is raising charges on third-party sellers again —- this time adding a holiday fee for merchants who use the company’s fulfillment services to pack and ship items to customers. According to a notice the company sent to merchants on Tuesday, sellers will be hit

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A Maryland-based lender deceived its loan customers by selling them insurance policies they didn’t ask for or know about in many cases, the attorneys general of a handful of states claimed in a lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Pennsylvania. The lawsuit — filed by the attorneys general of the District

The Associated Press Stocks ended mostly higher on Wall Street Tuesday after another bumpy day as investors cautiously reviewed mostly encouraging financial results from major retailers. The S&P 500 index wound up with a modest gain of 0.2%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose, mostly due to gains in Walmart

By MARCY GORDON AP Business Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Amazon has complained to federal regulators that they’re hounding company founder Jeff Bezos and senior executives. The e-commerce giant says regulators are making impossible-to-satisfy demands in their investigation of Amazon Prime, the popular streaming and shopping service with free delivery and an estimated 200 million members

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for September delivery fell $2.88 to $86.53 a barrel Tuesday. Brent crude for October delivery fell $2.76 to $92.34 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for September delivery fell 5 cents to $2.90 a gallon. September heating oil rose 4 cents to $3.48 a gallon. September natural gas rose 60

By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press RENO, Nev. (AP) — Conservationists suing to block a geothermal power plant in Nevada where an endangered toad lives are seeking U.S. protection for a rare Nevada butterfly near another geothermal project the developer plans near the Oregon line. The Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service

By KATHLEEN FOODY Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Immigration advocates are accusing the data broker LexisNexis Risk Solutions of violating Illinois law by collecting and combining extensive personal information and selling it to third parties including federal immigration authorities. Individual activists and two immigration advocacy groups argue in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that the result

By DÁNICA COTO Associated Press SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s governor has announced a public-private partnership to overhaul the island’s cruise ship docks as part of a $425 million project to boost the U.S. territory’s tourism sector. Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Tuesday that the project aims to transform Puerto Rico into the

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden arrived at the White House promising to “build back” America, and legislation he signed Tuesday delivers a slimmer, though not insignificant, version of that once sweeping idea. Approved by the divided Congress, the bill brings the biggest investment ever in the U.S. to

LONDON (AP) — A law has taken effect in Scotland to ensure period products are available free of charge to anyone who needs them. The Scottish government said it became the first in the world to legally protect the right to access free period products when its Period Products Act came into force Monday. Under

BERLIN (AP) — Switzerland says it has signed an agreement with Uzbekistan on the return of $131 million seized as part of a money-laundering investigation against the eldest daughter of former Uzbek President Islam Karimov. A government statement Tuesday said the deal will see the funds seized from Swiss accounts belonging to Gulnara Karimova in

By DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines Writer DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines says it has agreed to buy up to 20 supersonic jets that are still on the drawing board and years away from flying. American announced the deal Tuesday with Boom Supersonic. Neither company is giving financial details, such as how much American is paying

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors is recalling more than 484,000 large SUVs in the U.S. to fix a problem that can cause the third-row seat belts to malfunction. The recall covers Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes, Cadillac Escalades and GMC Yukons from 2021 and 2022. The automaker says rivets that hold the buckle to the mounting

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The first shipment of grain to leave Ukraine under a wartime deal appears to have ended up in Syria — even as Damascus remains a close ally of Moscow. That’s according to satellite images analyzed on Tuesday by The Associated Press. The arrival of