Business News

The Latest on President Donald Trump and the Russia probe (all times local): 11:50 p.m. The social media company, Twitter, says it will meet with a Senate committee investigating Russia's …

Facebook is apologizing for letting advertisers use phrases like "Jew-haters" as a targeting criteria and for not noticing it until it was pointed out.

The Federal Reserve will begin shrinking the enormous portfolio of bonds it amassed after the 2008 financial crisis to try to sustain a frail economy. The move reflects a strengthened economy and could mean higher rates on mortgages and other loans over time. The Fed announced Wednesday that it will let a small portion of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet mature without being replaced, starting in October with reductions of $10 billion a month and gradually rising over the next year to $50 billion a month. The central bank left its key short-term rate unchanged but hinted at one more rate hike this year — most likely in December — if persistently low inflation rebounds.

A group of hackers suspected of working in Iran for its government is targeting the aviation and petrochemical industries in Saudi Arabia, the U. S. and South Korea, a cybersecurity firm warned Wednesday. The report by FireEye also said the suspected Iranian hackers left behind a new type of malware that could have been used to destroy the computers it infected, an echo of two other Iran-attributed cyberattacks targeting Saudi Arabia in 2012 and 2016 that destroyed systems. Iran's office at the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday and its state media did not report on the claims.

It will come as no surprise if the Federal Reserve has an announcement to make when its latest policy meeting ends Wednesday: That it's ready to begin paring its enormous …

The debate over whether short term rental sites like Airbnb have driven up housing costs has raged for years in major cities. Now college towns are feeling the pinch. Such towns are heavy on events that draw visitors, and if they also are tourist destinations that can exacerbate the problem. Cambridge, Massachusetts, is home to Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

President Donald Trump's nominee to oversee chemical safety at the Environmental Protection Agency has for years accepted payments for criticizing studies that raised concerns about the safety of his clients' …

Only half of America's smallest businesses now offer health coverage to their workers because many say steady cost hikes have made it too expensive to afford a benefit nearly all large employers still provide. The Kaiser Family Foundation said Tuesday that 50 percent of companies with three to 49 employees offered coverage this year.

Homebuilders slowed their pace of construction by 0.8 percent in August, the second straight monthly decline. The Commerce Department says housing starts fell last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.18 million.

The deficit in the broadest measure of U. S. trade rose to the highest level in more than eight years this spring, reflecting in part a drop in fines and penalties paid by foreign companies. The Commerce Department said Tuesday that the deficit in the current account increased to $123.1 billion, up 8.5 percent from an imbalance of $113.5 billion in the first quarter.

Bob Evans Farms is being sold to cereal maker Post in in a deal worth about $1.53 billion.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest of its kind, has hit a milestone value of $1 trillion, beating all expectations since its creation over 20 years ago.

Portugal's telecom regulator has blocked an attempt by international operator Altice to buy control of local company Media Capital, saying it could create "significant obstacles" to competition.

Kohl's, which is opening some in-store Amazon shops, says it will start accepting returns for the online retailer at some of its stores in Los Angeles and Chicago starting next month. Kohl's Corp. said Tuesday it will pack and ship eligible Amazon return items for free at the 82 stores offering the service.