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House Republicans interrogate FTC’s Khan over regulation of Big Tech
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chair of the Federal Trade Commission has defended her aggressive legal strategy toward the country’s biggest technology companies as she appeared before the House Judiciary Committee. House Republicans have charged that the agency has become overzealous and politicized under President Joe Biden. Agency head Lina Khan appeared before the Judiciary Committee Thursday for the first time amid her court battles with the companies. Republicans said she is “harassing” Twitter since its acquisition by Elon Musk, arbitrarily suing large tech companies and declining to recuse herself from certain cases. Khan pushed back, arguing that more regulation is necessary as the companies have grown and that tech conglomeration could hurt the economy and consumers.
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Tourists are packing European hotspots, boosted by Americans
On the heels of a trip to Beijing, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is back in Asia for a series of Group of 20 finance minister meetings in India.
Recently released congressional campaign records reveal the potential challenges embattled U.S. Rep. George Santos faces in his bid for reelection.
Tens of thousands of protesters have spilled into the streets of Tel Aviv, marking the 28th straight week of demonstrations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary.
VENICE, Italy (AP) — Crowds are packing the Colosseum, the Louvre, the Acropolis and other major attractions as tourism exceeds 2019 records in some of Europe’s most popular destinations. While European tourists helped the industry on the road to recovery last year, the upswing this summer is led largely by Americans, who are lifted by a strong dollar and in some cases pandemic savings. The return of mass tourism is a boon to hotels and restaurants, which suffered under the pandemic restrictions. But there is a downside, too, as pledges to rethink tourism to make it more sustainable have largely gone unheeded in the most popular destinations.
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Virgin Galactic plans its next commercial flight to the edge of space for August
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Virgin Galactic is aiming for early August for its next flight to the edge of space. The company announced Thursday that the window for the commercial flight from Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert will open Aug. 10. This flight is expected to include ticket holders who have been waiting for years for their chance at weightlessness aboard the space tourism company’s rocket-powered plane. Virgin Galactic is expected next week to release more details about who will be on board. Hundreds of people have purchased tickets over the years, including celebrities, scientists and entrepreneurs from around the world.
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El Nino is threatening rice crops while grain supplies already are squeezed by the war in Ukraine
NEW DELHI (AP) — Experts are warning that rice production across South and Southeast Asia is likely to suffer with the world heading into an El Nino. Climate change is causing stronger El Ninos, which alter global weather patterns and heat up an already warming planet. Thirsty crops like rice are particularly vulnerable, especially when they are rainfed and not irrigated. Experts say this will worsen food insecurity at a time when supplies of grain and fertilizer are recovering from disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine. Global demand is soaring, while yields globally have been stagnating for decades because of climate change and limits to productivity gains.
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Stock market today: Wall Street’s winning week stays perfect as inflation eases further
NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street’s winning streak barreled into a fourth day following the latest signal that inflation is easing its chokehold on the economy. The S&P 500 rose 0.8% Thursday for its highest close since April 2022. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq composite rallied 1.6% as Big Tech stocks led the way. Treasury yields tumbled further in the bond market after a report showed inflation at the wholesale level cooled by more in June than expected. That has traders increasingly betting the Federal Reserve may end its blistering run of hikes to interest rates very soon.
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Delta executives say they’re not seeing the drop in airfares that the government reports
The government says airfares are dropping, but Delta officials say they’re not seeing the same thing. The Labor Department reported this week that average airfares fell 8% from May to June, helping put a lid on troublesome inflation. Delta Air Lines executives tell Wall Street that there wasn’t any such drop this spring — at least not in their prices. Delta seems more willing to accept the government’s claim that average fares are down sharply compared with a year ago. Delta CEO Ed Bastian says prices last year were unusually high because travel was just recovering from the pandemic, and people were willing to pay any price.
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St. Louis Fed president Jim Bullard, one of the central bank’s most hawkish members, stepping down
St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President James Bullard, one of the most hawkish members of the central bank since it started it aggressive rate-hiking campaign, is stepping down. Bullard is leaving his position as president and CEO of the St. Louis Fed to become the inaugural dean of the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business at Purdue University next month, the bank announced Thursday. While he’ll be available in an “advisory capacity” to the Fed until Aug. 14, Bullard has recused himself from his role on the central bank’s committee that determines the direction of interest rates and other monetary policy.
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US wholesale prices for June point to further easing of inflation pressures
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices in the United States decelerated again last month, the latest sign that inflationary pressures are easing in the face of the Federal Reserve’s streak of interest rate hikes. The government’s producer price index — which measures inflation before it reaches consumers — rose just 0.1% last month from June 2022, the smallest such increase since August 2020. And from May to June, prices rose an identical 0.1% after having fallen 0.4% from April to May. The index that the Labor Department issued Thursday reflects prices charged by manufacturers, farmers and wholesalers. It can provide an early sign of how fast consumer inflation will rise.
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Got Sriracha? The price for a bottle of Huy Fong’s iconic hot sauce gets spicy with supplies short
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s not just you. Sriracha is hard to come by these days — at least for one popular brand. The shortage of Huy Fong Foods’ Sriracha, the beloved red hot sauce packaged in those green-capped bottles, isn’t new — with the company pointing to a scarcity of chile pepper supply for several years now. And as frustrated fans continue to face store shelves missing the Huy Fong name, third-party resellers are punching up prices. In many places, the bottles are simply sold out — giving leverage to those listing the now-rare product on Amazon, eBay and more. Experts say that the Huy Fong shortage is partially a consequence of climate change, but could also reflect potential issues with suppliers.
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Nigerian leader plans $10 monthly handout to poor households after gas subsidy ends
KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has told federal legislators that his government plans to pay $10 every month to poor households to ease the hardship caused by his administration’s removal of subsidies for gasoline. The handout will have a “multiplier effect” on 60 million Nigerians, according to Tinubu’s letter to the Nigerian Senate, which was read during plenary on Thursday. Some Nigerians have said the handout is inadequate, citing the increased cost of transportation and of goods as a result of the subsidy removal. Millions of Nigerians are already struggling with high inflation of 22.4%. At least 63% of the country’s more than 210 million population face “multidimensional poverty,” according to the national statistics agency.
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The S&P 500 rose 37.88 points, or 0.8%, to 4,510.04. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 47.71 points, or 0.1%, to 34,395.14. The Nasdaq composite rose 219.61 points, or 1.6%, to 14,138.57. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 17.51 points, or 0.9%, to 1,950.89.
