Brazil drought punishes coffee farms and threatens to push prices even higher
CACONDE, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian coffee farmers are grappling with above-average temperatures as the country, the world’s largest coffee producer, faces its worst drought in more than seven decades. Vietnam, the second-largest coffee producer, is also experiencing heat and drought, affecting its coffee crops. As a result, potential supply shortages in both countries have driven up global coffee prices. Prices prices haven’t reached the record highs the world saw in the late 1970s, after a severe frost wiped out 70% of Brazil’s coffee plants. But they have been soaring in recent years.
Stock market today: Wall Street closes its record-setting week mixed as FedEx slumps and Nike jumps
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks drifted around their all-time highs, as a record-setting week for Wall Street closed on a quieter note. The S&P 500 edged down by 0.2% from its record on Friday, and the Nasdaq composite fell 0.4%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, added 38 points, or 0.1%, to its all-time high set on Thursday. FedEx dragged on the market after its profit and revenue for the latest quarter fell short of analysts’ expectations. Nike helped limit the market’s losses and jumped after naming a new chief executive officer. Treasury yields ticked higher.
House backs measure to overturn Biden auto emissions rule that Republicans say would force EV sales
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled House approved a resolution Friday that would overturn a new Biden administration rule on automobile emissions that Republicans say would force Americans to buy unaffordable electric vehicles they don’t want. The rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in March would impose the most ambitious standards ever in the United States to cut planet-warming emissions from passenger vehicles. The rule comes as EV sales, needed to meet the standards, have begun to slow. If the Senate should pass the resolution, it would face a likely presidential veto.
Seeking to counter China, US awards $3 billion for EV battery production in 14 states
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding $3 billion to U.S. companies to boost domestic production of advanced batteries and other materials used for electric vehicles, part of a continuing push to reduce China’s global dominance in battery production. The grants announced Friday will fund a total of 25 projects in 14 states, including battleground states such as Michigan and North Carolina. The grants mark the second round of EV battery funding under the 2021 infrastructure law. An earlier round allocated $1.8 billion for 14 projects that are ongoing.
Google begins its defense in antitrust case alleging monopoly over advertising technology
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — Google has opened its defense against allegations that it holds an illegal monopoly on online advertising technology with witness testimony saying the industry is vastly more complex and competitive than portrayed by the federal government. Testimony Friday afternoon from a Google executive came after the government rested its case two weeks into the federal trial in Virginia. The Justice Department and a coalition of states contend that Google built and maintained an illegal monopoly over the technology that facilitates the buying and selling of online ads seen by online consumers. Google says the government’s case ignores the competition the tech giant faces from social media companies and others.
Trump Media skids to new low on the first day the former president can sell his shares
Shares of Trump Media have slumped to new lows on the first trading day that its biggest shareholder, former President Donald Trump, is free to sell his stake in the company behind the Truth Social platform. Shares of Trump Media tumbled almost 8% to close Friday $13.55, putting the value of the company at less than $3 billion. Trump owns more than half of it. Trump and other insiders in the company have been unable to cash in on the highly volatile stock due standard lock-up agreements that prevent big stakeholders from selling stakes for a set period after a company becomes publicly traded. TMTG began trading publicly in March. It’s down 83% from its peak.
The head of Boeing’s defense and space business is out as company tries to fix troubled contracts
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Boeing is replacing the head of its defense and space business. That the unit that has been saddled with money-losing government contracts and embarrassing failures by its Starliner space capsule. Boeing said Friday that Ted Colbert was removed immediately as president and CEO of Boeing Defense, Space & Security. He’s being replaced temporarily by the division’s chief operating officer, Steve Parker. And a search is underway for a permanent replacement. Colbert spent 15 years at Boeing, serving as chief information officer and leading its global-services business before running the defense unit.
The AI boom may give Three Mile Island a new life supplying power to Microsoft’s data centers
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The owner of the shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant says it plans to restart the reactor under a 20-year agreement that calls for tech giant Microsoft to buy the power to supply its data centers. Friday’s announcement by Constellation Energy comes five years after its then-parent company shut down the plant, saying it was losing money. The plant is located on an island in the Susquehanna River just outside Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. It was the site of the nation’s worst commercial nuclear power accident in 1979. The accident destroyed one reactor and left the plant with one functioning reactor. Constellation says it hopes to bring that reactor online in 2028.
Madonna makes veiled entrance to Dolce&Gabbana for show celebrating her 1990s heyday
MILAN (AP) — Madonna has attempted a semi-stealth entrance to the Dolce & Gabbana runway show draped in a black veil for a runway show referencing her 1990s heyday and celebrating the cone bra. Models in bleach-blonde wigs strutted in the Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s signature corsets and fitted jackets on Saturday. They featured the assertive cone bra in a collection that notes said “pays homage to an ironic and powerful female figure.” Madonna wasn’t cited specifically. But the pop culture stars of the Milan designers and pop singer have been aligned ever since they made costumes for her 1993 Girlie Show tour. The collection dubbed “Italian Beauty” perfectly captured that moment in time.
EU pledges to loan Ukraine up to $39 billion to help rebuild its economy and power grid
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The European Union is ready to lend Ukraine up to $39 billion as part of a loan package organized by the Group of Seven major industrial nations. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the pledge Friday in Ukraine. Part of the money will be used to help the country repair and reconnect its war-damaged electricity grid and boost its heating capacity as winter approaches. Around half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is destroyed. Rolling electricity blackouts are leaving parts of the east in darkness. The main aim is to help Ukraine decentralize its power grid and to become less reliant on the big power stations that make easier targets for Russian forces.
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