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House votes to bar Arctic drilling; Senate action unlikely

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Democratic-controlled House on Thursday voted to reinstate a decades-long ban on oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — a largely symbolic move aimed at reversing a plan by President Donald Trump to drill in the pristine refuge. The 225-193 vote comes as the Trump administration has begun planning to sell oil and gas leases in the remote refuge, home to polar bears, caribou, migratory birds and other species. The drilling was authorized under a 2017 tax cut approved by the Republican-controlled Congress, an action the House vote ...

Stocks rise on fresh optimism ahead of US-China trade talks

Stocks rose on Wall Street Thursday after the U.S. and China took steps to ease tensions in their costly trade war, putting investors in a buying mood. Technology, financial and consumer-focused stocks helped power the modest rally, which extended the market’s solid gains from the day before despite losing some momentum in the final hour of trading. The benchmark S&P 500 index closed within 0.6% of its all-time high set July 26. The U.S. agreed to delay another round of tariffs on Chinese imports by two weeks to Oct. 15. Meanwhile, Chinese importers have asked U.S. suppliers for ...

Senate OKs Trump nominee Bowman for Federal Reserve

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate on Thursday confirmed President Donald Trump's nominee Michelle Bowman to serve a full 14-year term on the seven-member Federal Reserve board. Bowman was approved on a 60-31 vote, winning the support of 49 Republicans and 11 Democrats. Only one Republican, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, joined Democrats voting no. Bowman has held a spot on the Fed board designated for a community banker since November 2018, filling a vacancy on the panel that had a term ending on Jan. 31. Trump, who has been highly critical of the Fed over the past year, renominated her ...

Tentative opioids settlement falls short of nationwide deal

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — A tentative settlement announced Wednesday over the role Purdue Pharma played in the nation’s opioid addiction crisis falls short of the far-reaching national settlement the OxyContin maker had been seeking for months, with litigation sure to continue against the company and the family that owns it. The agreement with about half the states and attorneys representing roughly 2,000 local governments would have Purdue file for a structured bankruptcy and pay as much as $12 billion over time, with about $3 billion coming from the Sackler family. That number ...

Vaping group plotted lobbying efforts at Trump’s DC hotel

NEW YORK (AP) — America’s vaping industry has in recent years taken its fight to fend off regulation directly to President Donald Trump’s doorstep, with a lobbying group twice booking annual meetings at his Washington hotel and e-cigarette maker Juul hiring two of his former White House officials. In 2017 and 2018, the Vapor Technology Association met at Trump’s hotel to strategize how to lobby the administration, with a Republican lawmaker at one conference advising it to emphasize jobs created by the growing industry and how regulation could devastate hundreds of small vaping ...

US stocks notch solid gains as China eases trade tensions

Stocks notched broad gains on Wall Street Wednesday as investors drew encouragement from China’s move to exempt some U.S. products from a recent round of tariffs. Technology, health care and communication services stocks powered much of the rally. The benchmark S&P 500 index, which had been essentially flat since Friday, is on track for its third straight weekly gain. Bond yields continued to climb. Oil prices fell, and investors also continued to favor smaller-company stocks. Wednesday’s push into technology companies marked a reversal from the first couple of days of the ...