Business Highlights: Biden restricts investments in China; Climate change upends insurance industry
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Biden issues an executive order restricting US investments in Chinese technology
WASHINGTON (AP) — In a sign of growing strains between the world’s two biggest powers, President Joe Biden has signed an executive order to block and regulate U.S.-based investments going toward China for advanced computer chips, micro electronics, quantum information technologies and artificial intelligence. Senior administration officials say the effort stemmed from national security goals, rather than economic interests. The order seeks to blunt China’s ability to use U.S. investments in its technology companies to upgrade its military while also preserving broader levels of trade that are vital for both nations’ economies.
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Special counsel got a search warrant for Twitter to turn over info on Trump’s account, documents say
Special counsel Jack Smith’s team obtained a search warrant in January for records related to former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, and a judge levied a $350,000 fine on the company for missing the deadline to company. That’s according to court documents released Wednesday. The details were included in a decision from the federal appeals court in Washington rejecting San Francisco-based Twitter’s claim it should not have been held in contempt or sanctioned. It’s unclear what information Smith may have sought from the platform. Possibilities include data about when and where the posts were written, their engagement and the identities of other accounts that reposted Trump’s content.
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Unprecedented levels of damage from storms this year is upending US towns and the insurance industry
Waves of severe thunderstorms in the U.S. during the first half of this year led to $34 billion in insured losses, an unprecedented level of financial damage in such a short time as climate change contributes to the frequency and severity of violent meteorological events. The reinsurer Swiss Re Group said Wednesday that damages from convective storms in the U.S., which can come with hail, lightning, heavy rain and high winds, accounted for nearly 70% of the $50 billion in global catastrophic damages so far this year. The storms in the U.S. were so severe, there were 10 that resulted in damages of $1 billion or more, almost double the average over the last decade.
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Stock market today: Wall Street slips as markets brace for coming report on inflation
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks slipped as Wall Street braced for a highly anticipated report on inflation that’s on the way. The S&P 500 lost 0.7% Wednesday for its sixth drop in seven days. The Dow lost 191 points, or 0.5%, after flipping between gains and losses several times through the day. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.2%. Companies are continuing to report better-than-expected profits for the spring. Taser maker Axon Enterprise jumped following its report. But more attention is on a report about inflation coming on Thursday, which investors hope will give the Federal Reserve reason to halt its hikes to interest rates.
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Millions struggle to pay AC bills in heat waves. Federal aid reaches only a fraction
DENVER (AP) — As climate change ratchets up temperatures across the U.S., millions of the poorest Americans grapple with enduring perilous heat or paying costly air conditioning bills. While President Joe Biden has invested billions into federal programs that subsidize the poorest Americans’ energy costs, the help reaches only a fraction of the most vulnerable during the sweltering summer months. Nationwide, around 30 million Americans struggle to afford their energy bills and qualify for the subsidy, but less than 3% receive federal assistance for their summer bills. Experts say it’s woefully underfunded.
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If you’ve ever wanted to be in ‘Hamilton,’ you can now do so — on Roblox
NEW YORK (AP) — The landmark Broadway musical “Hamilton” has landed on Roblox, turning the innovative stage show into an immersive online environment for a new generation. In the Hamilton Simulator, players use their own avatars as they rub shoulders with the musical’s characters and negotiate through 10 levels set during the Revolutionary War. It starts at the New York docks and the goal is to free the city from British yoke. Appropriately, the music-filled game requires no real money. The experience launches Thursday. It has the blessing of writer-composer Lin-Manuel Miranda, whose blockbuster musical charts the rise and fall of statesman Alexander Hamilton.
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The end-call button on your iPhone could move soon. What to know about Apple’s iOS 17 change
NEW YORK (AP) — The location of Apple’s red end-call button is set to slightly move with upcoming iOS 17 updates to the phone app, so be wary of your thumb’s muscle memory. As iPhone users know, the “end” button currently sits prominently away from other call options, in a center position towards the bottom of the screen. But with iOS 17, which officially launches this fall, the red icon will move the right — and other features will move down to join it. While a iOS 17 preview guide from Apple showed this new setup in June, renewed attention has increased as some explore beta versions of the software upgrade. Images from iOS 17 beta versions shared by multiple news outlets this week show the small — but potentially frustrating — change.
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How hip-hop went from being shunned by big business to multimillion-dollar collabs
NEW YORK (AP) — The signs of hip-hop’s influence are now everywhere from Pharrell Williams becoming Louis Vuitton’s men’s creative director to billion-dollar brands like Dr. Dre’s Beats headphones and retail mainstays like Diddy’s Sean John and the Rocawear line started by Jay-Z. It didn’t start out that way. Companies at first balked at partnering with hip-hop acts because they felt that the genre that appealed to Black and brown teens and young adults didn’t align with their brands. That changed as hip-hop grew into the world’s biggest music genre. And now, hip-hop’s five wealthiest artists were worth nearly $4 billion in 2022 by themselves.
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Zimbabwe’s president tells supporters they will go to heaven if they vote for his party this month
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe’s president has urged thousands of his supporters at a rally to deliver a “thunderous victory” in this month’s national election and proclaimed that “no one will stop us from ruling this country.” Emmerson Mnangagwa also said on Wednesday that people who vote for his ruling ZANU-PF party would go to heaven. The 80-year-old leader who assumed power in the southern African nation in a coup in 2017 also warned his supporters against engaging in violence in the buildup to the Aug. 23 vote. That plea came days after an opposition party supporter was killed, allegedly at the hands of ruling party activists, in the first deadly violence of the election buildup.
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Women battle misogyny to send hip-hop spinning in a new direction
ATLANTA (AP) — Female rappers have been a part of hip-hop since its debut. Women have fought to shape their identification in hip-hop and demand recognition. In the 50 years since DJ Kool Herc extended breaking at a back-to-school party, women have gone from donning a male-imitated aesthetic, to owning their sexuality in lyrics, to selling out stadiums for their own concerts. At hip-hop’s 50th anniversary, female rappers are taking their moment to shine – while still demanding respect and facing decades-old challenges.
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The S&P 500 fell 31.67 points, or 0.7%, to 4,467.71. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 191.13 points, or 0.5%, to 35,123.36. The Nasdaq composite fell 162.31 points, or 1.2%, to 13,722.02. The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 16.65 points, or 0.9%, to 1,930.77.