Business News

Schools have welcomed students back to classrooms but face a new challenge: a shortage of teachers and staff the likes of which some districts say they have never seen

Below is the statement the Fed released Wednesday after its policy meeting ended: The Federal Reserve is committed to using its full range of tools to support the U.S. economy in this challenging time, thereby promoting its maximum employment and price stability goals. With progress on vaccinations and strong policy support, indicators of economic activity and employment have continued to strengthen. The sectors most adversely affected by the pandemic have improved in recent months, but the rise in COVID-19 cases has slowed their recovery. Inflation is elevated, largely reflecting transitory factors. Overall financial conditions remain accommodative, in part reflecting policy measures to support the economy and the flow of credit to U.S. households and businesses. The path of the economy continues to depend on the course of the virus. Progress on vaccinations will likely continue to reduce the effects of the public health crisis on the economy, but risks to the economic outlook...

The Federal Reserve signaled it may start raising its benchmark interest rate sometime next year, earlier than it envisioned three months ago and a sign that it’s concerned that high inflation pressures may persist

Stocks rose broadly on Wall Street Wednesday, potentially setting up the S&P 500 to break a four-day losing streak

Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in August and the pace of price growth eased, the latest sign the housing market is cooling as intense competition leave many would-be buyers on the sidelines

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has conceded that a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S. is not imminent as he voiced confidence that the decades-long U.S. ban on the import of British lamb would be lifted

Apple’s and Google’s cooperation with the Russian government’s efforts to suppress an app opposed to the ruling regime is escalating concerns about whether Big Tech’s pursuit of ever-higher profits has trampled their commitment to protecting civil rights

France is to send its ambassador back to Washington next week after French President Emmanuel Macron’s phone call with President Joe Biden over a submarine dispute

The British betting company Entain has confirmed a takeover bid worth about $22.4 billion (16.4 billion pounds) from DraftKings as online gambling companies seek inroads into physical betting sites and vice versa

Reusable packaging is about to become more common at groceries and restaurants worldwide

Germany’s health minister has partly blamed “incitement” against the government’s pandemic rules on social media for the killing of a gas station clerk by a man who refused to wear a face mask

Environmental activists who have repeatedly blocked Britain’s busiest highway face possible imprisonment after a judge granted an injunction against the protesters

The European Central Bank has carried out its first climate change stress test

The World Health Organization is setting a higher bar for policymakers and the public in its first update to its air quality guidelines in 15 years

Ford Motor Co. is investing $50 million in an upstart electric vehicle battery recycling company as the automaker moves to bolster its U.S. battery supply chain

The Kosovo-Serbia border has been blocked for a third straight day by ethnic Serbs protesting a decision by Kosovo authorities to start removing Serbian license plates from cars entering the country

Nigeria-born designer Joy Meribe opened Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday with her debut runway collection, a concrete success for a movement to promote diversity in Italian fashion just a year after launching

The House has approved legislation to fund the government, suspend its borrowing limit and provide federal disaster and refugee aid

Turkish broadcaster NTV says a Turkish warship issued a warning to a Greek research vessel to prevent it entering what Turkey considers its territorial waters

As a payment deadline looms, Beijing isn't expected to facilitate a "bailout."

A Chinese real estate developer that is struggling to avoid defaulting on billions of dollars of debt says it will make an interest payment due this week

Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday sued his estranged niece and The New York Times over a bombshell 2018 story about his family’s wealth and tax practices that was based on confidential documents she provided to the newspaper’s reporters

The Asian Development Bank has lowered its outlook for economic growth in developing Asia to reflect renewed coronavirus outbreaks as variants spread, prompting governments to restore or keep in place their pandemic precautions

Asian shares are mostly lower after major indexes ended mixed on Wall Street

The Justice Department is suing to stop American Airlines and JetBlue from coordinating their flights in the Northeast

A Delaware judge has begun a key hearing that could determine whether the Boy Scouts of America might be able to emerge from bankruptcy later this year

FedEx is getting hurt by the tight job market

A U_S_ government committee that reviews foreign investment in telecom is probing videoconferencing company Zoom’s $14_7 billion deal for cloud call center company Five9 for national security risks due to “foreign participation.”

The British government has agreed to give financial support to a U.S. firm that produces much of the country’s carbon dioxide

The House is set to vote on legislation to fund the government, provide federal disaster aid and suspend the government's debt limit

President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

Increasingly under fire from its clients, the Nielsen company says it will soon incorporate homes that have cut the cable cord and rely on broadband in its measurement of local TV viewership

Major indexes ended mixed on Wall Street Tuesday after spending much of the day wobbling between gains and losses

Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Tuesday: Lennar, Cracker Barrel fall; AutoZone, Nektar rise

PSA Peugeot’s takeover of Fiat Chrysler to form the world’s fourth-largest carmaker has had its first executive casualty, with former Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley stepping down from his role of head of the Americas

Closing prices for crude oil, gold and other commodities, and foreign exchange levels

Over 30 million air bags in more than 200 models from 20 automakers are being investigated by a U.S. safety agency because they could explode and hurl shrapnel

Toyota is dumping the big V8 engine in the latest redesign of its Tundra full-size pickup truck, a bold move in a market that likes big, powerful engines

The Biden administration is taking aim at the financial marketplace for criminal ransomware gangs

Italy’s failing national airline Alitalia is telling passengers to just bring a single piece of hand luggage when travelling

The market debut of Universal Music Group is a hit with investors optimistic about the future of steaming music

The Dutch king has outlined a pared-back government plan for the coming year in the traditional speech opening the new parliamentary term

McDonald’s plans to “drastically” reduce the plastic in its Happy Meal toys worldwide by 2025

U.S. home construction rebounded 3.9% in August after a July decline with the strength coming in apartment construction

A new volcano erupting on the Spanish island of La Palma has drawn sightseers eager to take photos of glowing lava

Johnson & Johnson released data showing that a booster dose to its one-shot coronavirus vaccine provides a strong immune response months after people receive a first dose

ABC News' #1 podcast is back with new episodes, available on Tuesdays.

Global investors are watching nervously as one of China’s biggest real estate developers struggles to avoid defaulting on tens of billions of dollars of debt, fueling fears of possible wider shock waves for the Chinese financial system

Twitter said Monday it will pay $809.5 million to settle a consolidated class action lawsuit alleging that the company misled investors about how much its user base was growing and how much users interacted with its platform

Asian shares have fallen, with Tokyo down 2%, as worries about heavily indebted Chinese real estate developers weigh on sentiment