Business News

Looking to buy a home? You may now need to factor in the cost of your agent’s commission

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Thinking of buying a home with the help of a real estate agent? You can no longer take it for granted that a seller will cover the cost of your agent’s commission. Home sellers have traditionally offered a blanket commission to a buyer’s agent when they listed their home on the market. But that will no longer be allowed as of this weekend, when various changes to U.S. real estate industry practices are set to take effect. A homebuyer may still try to negotiate such an offer from the seller. But if they decline, that would leave the homebuyer on the hook for paying for their agent’s services.

Stock market today: Wall Street drifts higher as it closes out its best week since November

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are drifting higher as Wall Street coasts to the close of its best week since November. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% in afternoon trading Friday and is potentially on track to snap a six-day winning streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 64 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Treasury yields were relatively steady following a couple mixed reports on the U.S. economy. The market’s focus will shift next week to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will give a speech at a setting that’s been home to big policy announcements in the past.

TikTok compares itself to foreign-owned American news outlets as it fights forced sale or ban

TikTok has pushed back on arguments that the popular social media platform is not shielded by the First Amendment. The U.S. Justice Department had said in a legal brief submitted last month that TikTok’s owner, China-based ByteDance, as well as the platform’s global and U.S. arms were not entitled to First Amendment protections. The argument was made in a case between the U.S. and TikTok over the federal law that could lead to a ban on the popular app. TikTok attorneys argued in a court document Thursday that the platform’s U.S. arm doesn’t forfeit its constitutional rights because it is owned by a foreign entity. They drew a parallel between TikTok and well-known news outlets such as Politico and Business Insider, which are owned by a German publisher.

Germany’s quarrelsome government clinches a deal on the 2025 budget

BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s quarrelsome governing coalition has reached an agreement on details of the country’s 2025 budget. Friday’s accord comes weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz and top officials clinched an initial deal that then got bogged down in a new dispute, further damaging the unpopular government’s image. Scholz has run a three-party coalition of his center-left Social Democrats with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats since December 2021. The alliance, which brings together parties that weren’t traditionally allies, has become notorious for frequent infighting and on several occasions reopened hard-fought policy agreements.

Kim Dotcom loses 12-year fight to halt deportation from New Zealand to face US copyright case

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Kim Dotcom, founder of the once wildly popular file-sharing website Megaupload, lost a 12-year fight this week to halt his deportation from New Zealand to the U.S. on charges of copyright infringement, money laundering and racketeering. New Zealand’s Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith divulged Friday that he had decided Dotcom should be surrendered to the U.S. to face trial. A date for the extradition was not set and Goldsmith said Dotcom would be allowed time to get advice on the decision. A lawyer for Dotcom signaled an appeal. Prosecutors said Megaupload raked in millions from people who used the site to illegally download copyrighted works. Defense lawyers say the users of the site were responsible, not the founders.

They look like — and link to — real news articles. But they’re actually ads from the Harris campaign

A Harris advertising campaign that uses Google search is prompting some concerns among news outlets about their work being co-opted for political purposes. The campaign, which includes links to news stories, shows the importance for news organizations to protect their independence at a time many consumers are suspicious of bias in journalism. The Harris campaign says it has no plans to stop the under-the-radar campaign after it was revealed this week. Google says the ads are clearly labeled as such for people who come across it. With less than three months before a closely-fought election, campaigns are looking to find new ways to reach voters.