Business News

Norfolk Southern agrees to pay $600M in settlement related to train derailment in eastern Ohio

Norfolk Southern has agreed to pay $600 million in a class-action lawsuit settlement related to a fiery train derailment in February 2023 in eastern Ohio. The company said Tuesday that the agreement, if approved by the court, will resolve all class action claims within a 20-mile radius from the derailment and, for those residents who choose to participate, personal injury claims within a 10-mile radius from the derailment.

Stock market today: Wall Street inches higher before the bell as markets await US inflation data

Wall Street shifted toward modest gains early as markets remain focused on U.S. inflation reports later this week and what it means for interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Futures for the S&P 500 were up 0.2% before the bell Tuesday and futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose about 0.1%. An update on the U.S. consumer price index is due Wednesday, the biggest potential market-moving news since Friday’s jobs report. This week brings the start of another earnings reporting season. Delta Air Lines, JPMorgan Chase and other banks will headline the earliest days of the reporting period.

6 northern European nations sign a deal to protect North Sea infrastructure from hostile actors

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Six northern Europe countries bordering the North Sea have signed an agreement to work together to protect underwater infrastructure in the northern part of the Atlantic Ocean from an increased risk of sabotage. The Danish Ministry for Climate, Energy and Utilities on Tuesday called the North Sea a hub for critical infrastructure that connects Europe and said there was “an increased risk of sabotage and unwanted attention from hostile actors.” The move comes after the yet-unsolved 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea. They occurred in international waters but within Swedish and Danish economic zones. Both countries have closed their probes into the blasts.

New EPA rule says 200 US chemical plants must reduce toxic emissions that are likely to cause cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 200 chemical plants nationwide must reduce toxic emissions likely to cause cancer under a new Environmental Protection Agency rule. Officials say the rule issued Tuesday advances President Joe Biden’s commitment to environmental justice with health protections for communities burdened by industrial pollution from chemicals such as chloroprene. The rule applies to facilities in Texas, Louisiana, the Ohio River Valley, West Virginia and the upper South. It benefits a majority-Black Louisiana town EPA Administrator Michael Regan visited in 2021. Denka Performance Elastomer in LaPlace, Louisiana, is the largest source of chloroprene emissions in the U.S. and will have to reduce emissions. Denka says it has complied with air permitting requirements and opposes the EPA’s action.

From overcapacity to TikTok, the issues covered during Janet Yellen’s trip to China

BEIJING (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her team are returning to Washington after a visit to China where they tried to tackle the biggest economic issues between the countries. After the U.S. said large Chinese government subsidies for green energy technology threaten global financial stability, the two sides agreed to hold “intensive exchanges” on more balanced economic growth. Yellen and Chinese leaders also discussed issues related to money laundering, ownership of the social media app TikTok and her status as a food celebrity in China.

Tesla settles lawsuit over man’s death in a crash involving its semi-autonomous driving software

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Tesla has settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a Silicon Valley engineer who died in a crash while relying on the company’s semi-autonomous driving software. The size of the settlement was not disclosed in court documents filed Monday, just a day before the trial stemming from the 2018 crash on a San Francisco Bay Area highway was scheduled to begin. The family of Walter Huang filed a negligence and wrongful lawsuit in 2019 seeking to hold Tesla — and, by extension, its CEO Elon Musk — liable for repeatedly exaggerating the capabilities of Tesla’s self-driving car technology. Evidence indicated that Huang was playing a video game when he crashed into a highway barrier.

JPMorgan’s Dimon warns inflation, political polarization, wars creating risks not seen since WWII

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s most influential banker, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, told investors that he continues to expect the U.S. economy to be resilient and grow this year. But he worries geopolitical events including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Gaza war, as well as U.S. political polarization, might be creating an environment that “may very well be creating risks that could eclipse anything since World War II.” The comments came Monday in an annual shareholder letter from Dimon, who often uses the letter to weigh in broad topics like politics, regulation and global events and what it might mean to JPMorgan Chase, as well as the broader economy.

Two years after its historic win, a divided Amazon Labor Union lurches toward a leadership election

The first labor union for Amazon workers in the United States is divided, running out of money and still does not have a contract two years after clinching a historic victory in New York City. Despite campaigns at several facilities in the past few years, a Staten Island warehouse still is the only site in the U.S. where the retail giant’s workers have voted in favor of union representation. Cracks emerged within the Amazon Labor Union ranks after it lost votes at two other warehouses, spurring strategy disagreements. Prominent members resigned quietly or left to form a dissident labor group. The union also continues to face roadblocks from Amazon.

Spain will scrap ‘golden visas’ that allow wealthy non-EU residents to stay if they buy real estate

MADRID (AP) — The Spanish government says it will scrap so-called “golden visas” that allow wealthy people from outside the European Union to obtain residency permits on investing more than half a million euros (dollars) in real estate. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his minority coalition government would study the reform in the weekly Cabinet meeting Tuesday. Sánchez said the reform was part of the government’s push to make housing a right not a speculative business. The government says some 10,000 such visas have been issued since the measure was brought into law in 2013 by a previous right-wing Popular Party government as a means to attract foreign investors. “Golden visas” are strongly criticized for spurring price hikes and speculation in the housing sector.

Key lawmakers float new rules for personal data protection; bill would make privacy a consumer right

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two lawmakers from opposing parties are floating a new plan to protect the privacy of Americans’ personal data. The draft legislation was announced Sunday by two lawmakers from Washington state — Republican Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell. Their proposal would make privacy a consumer right and set new rules for companies that collect and transfer personal data. Congress has long debated ways to safeguard personal data, but partisan disputes have doomed previous proposals. The new measure from Cantwell and McMorris Rodgers hasn’t been introduced yet, but their bipartisan support indicates the measure is likely to get serious consideration.