Business News

Yellen announces efforts to boost the housing supply as high prices create a crunch

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is announcing new steps to increase access to affordable housing. The Democratic administration is announcing new federal initiatives as still-high prices on groceries and other necessities and high interest rates have dramatically pushed up the cost of living in the post-coronavirus pandemic years. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is traveling to Minneapolis on Monday to promote the new investments. The efforts include providing $100 million through a new fund over the next three years to support affordable housing financing, boosting the Federal Financing Bank’s financing of affordable housing and other measures.

Apple becomes first target of EU’s new digital competition rules aimed at big tech

LONDON (AP) — European Union regulators are accusing Apple of breaking new rules on digital competition by imposing rules in its App Store marketplace that prevent app makers from pointing users to cheaper options on other venues. The European Commission said Monday that according to the preliminary findings of its investigation, the iPhone maker had breached the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act. The rulebook is a sweeping set of regulations aimed at preventing tech giants from cornering digital markets. The commission also opened a fresh investigation zeroing in on a new fee Apple is charging developers for app installations from outside its App Store. Apple said it is “confident” that its plan “complies with the law.”

China, EU are open to talks on plans to hike tariffs on Chinese EVs

BANGKOK (AP) — Officials say that China and the European Union are open to holding talks on the EU’s recent decision to sharply raise tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles. China’s Commerce Ministry and Germany’s economy minister said over the weekend that each side was willing to hold talks on the issue. Chinese state media said Monday that Beijing is pushing for the EU to give up plans to sharply raise tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric vehicles by July 4. The European side earlier said it wants to discuss the findings of its investigation into the impact of subsidies on Chinese EV exports with Chinese authorities to find ways to resolve the issues.

Workers who make Bombardier business jets in Toronto are on strike. Talks will resume Monday

About 1,350 workers who produce business jets for Bombardier in Toronto are on strike. Labor union Unifor said Sunday that the workers walked off the job when the two sides failed to reach agreement on a new contract by a deadline on Saturday night. The union says negotiations will resume Monday. Bombardier says it’s still talking and hopes to reach an agreement with the union soon. Neither side would discuss specifics of the negotiations. The workers build Bombardier’s G-series business jets.

Off the TV screen and into real life: An MSNBC event illustrates the rise of ‘event journalism’

NEW YORK (AP) — For one weekend day this fall in New York — and for a price — MSNBC fans can see many of their favorite personalities in real life. The “Democracy 2024” event invites fans for some panel discussions, a reception, even a sit-down dinner. It’s part of a growing trend of event journalism, outlets searching for new ways to make money with live activities. It’s particularly big in Washington, where new outlets like Semafor, Politico and Punchbowl News bring people together to see newsmakers and journalists in action. MSNBC has been ramping up its efforts this year, one of the most active TV networks in the field.

Rebuilding Paradise: Nonprofit’s $500 ‘defensible space’ grants help cut residents’ insurance costs

PARADISE, Calif. (AP) — Five years after the 2018 Camp Fire killed 85 people and destroyed 90% of the homes here, residents of Paradise, California, face a new struggle: Finding homeowner’s insurance. Companies are raising premiums and canceling policies, but they’re also offering discounts for households that create defensible space by clearing a 5-foot-wide perimeter around their home from combustible material. To help homeowners who are financially and mentally exhausted from the burdens of rebuilding, the Rebuild Paradise Foundation created a grant that covers the cost of gravel for creating defensible space, improving insurability and fire safety.

Robinhood CEO discusses the brokerage’s evolution leading up to another ride on the meme stock wave

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Meme stocks like GameStop are hot again, reviving memories of early 2021 when they turned into a craze that ended up burning many investors along with Robinhood Markets. The online brokerage was especially popular among younger generations helped propel the meme stock boom until it became so overwhelmed that it suddenly clamped down on trading. That move outraged many customers who blamed the brokerage for losses, sparking inquiries by lawmakers and triggering lawsuits. Tenev recently discussed some of those changes during an interview with The Associated Press.

UPS agrees to sell its freight-brokerage division for less than it paid for the business in 2015

ATLANTA (AP) — UPS is selling its freight-brokerage business for less than it paid for the business back in 2015. UPS said Sunday it agreed to sell its Coyote Logistics division to RXO for just over $1 billion. UPS CEO Carol Tome says the sale will help her company focus on its core package-delivery business. Freight brokers are middlemen between shippers and carriers such as UPS. RXO is a freight broker based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and it says it will nearly double in annual revenue by buying Coyote from UPS.

Car dealerships in North America revert to pens and paper after cyberattacks on software provider

NEW YORK (AP) — Car dealerships across North America continue to wrestle with disruptions that started last week. CDK Global, a company that provides software for thousands of auto dealers in the U.S. and Canada, was hit by back-to-back cyberattacks on Wednesday. That led to an outage that continues to impact operations. Prospective car buyers have faced delays at dealerships or seen vehicle orders written up by hand. There’s no immediate end in sight, but CDK says it expects the restoration process to take several days to complete. On Monday, Group 1 Automotive Inc., a $4 billion automotive retailer, said that it continued to use “alternative processes” to sell cars to its customers.

French far-right leader Bardella seeks to reassure voters, EU partners on economic, foreign policies

PARIS (AP) — French far-right leader Jordan Bardella has sought to reassure French voters, European partners and international observers that his potential government would lead “realistic” economic policies and “not weaken” France’s voice abroad. Bardella could become prime minister if his party wins a majority in France’s parliamentary elections scheduled on June 30 and July 7. He vowed on Monday to implement “realistic, credible” economic policies amid EU criticism about France’s excessive debt. He also has redoubled his party’s efforts to counter critics’ allegations that it has long been friendly toward Russia and President Vladimir Putin. Potential alliances and France’s two-round voting system in general elections make the outcome of the vote highly uncertain.