US budget airlines are struggling. Will pursuing premium passengers solve their problems?
DALLAS (AP) -- Delta and United Airlines have become the most profitable U.S. airlines by targeting premium customers while also winning a significant share of budget travelers. That is squeezing smaller low-fare carriers like Spirit Airlines, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday. Some travel industry experts think Spirit's troubles indicate less-wealthy passengers will have fewer choices and higher prices. Other discount airlines are on better financial footing but also are lagging far behind the full-service airlines when it comes to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. Most industry experts think Frontier and other so-called ultra-low-cost carriers will fill the vacuum if Spirit shrinks, and that there's still plenty of competition to prevent prices from spiking.
Oil company Phillips 66 faces federal charges related to alleged Clean Water Act violations
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oil company Phillips 66 has been federally indicted in connection with alleged violations of the Clean Water Act in California. The Texas-based company is accused of discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial wastewater containing excessive amounts of oil and grease. The U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment on Thursday. Phillips is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the Clean Water Act. An arraignment date has not been set. A spokesperson for the company said it was cooperating with prosecutors.
US regulators seek to break up Google, forcing Chrome sale as part of monopoly punishment
U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade. The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department calls for Google to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions designed to prevent Android from favoring its search engine. Regulators also want to ban Google from forging multibillion-dollar deals to lock in its dominant search engine as the default option on Apple's iPhone and other devices.
What you need to know about the proposed measures designed to curb Google's search monopoly
U.S. regulators are proposing aggressive measures to restore competition to the online search market after a federal judge ruled that Google maintained an illegal monopoly. The sweeping set of recommendations filed late Wednesday could radically alter Google's business. Regulators want Google to sell off its industry-leading Chrome web browser. They outlined a range of behavioral measures such as prohibiting Google from using search results to favor its own services such as YouTube, and forcing it to license search index data to its rivals. They're not going as far as to demand Google spin off Android, but are leaving that door open if the remedies don't work.
Stock market today: World stocks track Wall St's gains with Nvidia report and bitcoin surge
HONG KONG (AP) -- Global stocks are higher following gains on Wall Street after market superstar Nvidia and other companies said they're making even fatter profits than expected. U.S. futures edged lower while oil prices rose. The Shanghai Composite index dropped over 3%, driven by the semiconductor stocks. On Thursday, the S&P 500 pulled 0.5% higher after flipping between modest gains and losses several times in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up less than 0.1%. Banks, smaller companies and other areas of the stock market that tend to do best when the economy is strong helped lead the way, while bitcoin broke above $99,000.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who led US crackdown on cryptocurrencies, to step down
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler will step down from his post on January 20. Since taking the lead at the SEC, the commission has been aggressive in its oversight of cryptocurrencies and other regulatory issues. President-elect Donald Trump had promised during his campaign that he would remove Gensler, who has led the U.S. government's crackdown on the crypto industry and repeatedly called for more oversight. But Gensler on Thursday announced that he would be stepping down from his post on the day that Trump is inaugurated. Bitcoin has jumped 40% since Trump's victory.
US intelligence warns defense companies of Russian sabotage threat
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. intelligence officials are warning American defense companies to increase their security after a wave of sabotage in Europe blamed on Russia. The National Counterintelligence and Security Center issued a public bulletin Thursday advising companies that work in the defense industry that Russia may seek to carry out acts of sabotage as part of its effort to undercut Ukraine's allies and their ability to support Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Western authorities say they believe Russian intelligence is behind several recent acts of sabotage targeting European defense companies. Russia has denied the allegations.
Australia rejects Elon Musk's claim that it plans to control access to the internet
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- An Australian Cabinet minister has rejected X Corp. owner Elon Musk's allegation that the government intends to control all Australians' access to the internet through legislation that would ban young children from social media. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Friday that Musk's criticism was "unsurprising" after the government introduced legislation to Parliament that would fine platforms including X up to $133 million for allowing children under 16 to hold social media accounts. The spat continues months of open hostility between the Australian government and the tech billionaire over regulators' efforts to reduce public harm from social media. Parliament could pass the legislation as soon as next week.
Indigenous leaders travel to UK from Peru to draw attention to oil damage and banking
LONDON (AP) -- Indigenous leaders from the Wampis Nation in Peru are urging lawmakers at the House of Commons in London to ban international banks' support for Amazon oil activities they say harm their ancestral rainforests. HSBC bank, JPMorgan Chase and Santander helped finance the Peruvian state-owned oil company Petroperu as it sought to upgrade a coastal refinery. In the last decade there have been dozens of leaks along a pipeline that serves the refinery. The banks say they adhere to environmental guidelines and take great care over which project to back. The Indigenous members were among several delegations also pressing for a proposed law that would make it a crime for British businesses to harm the environment.
Elon Musk's budget crusade could cause a constitutional clash in Trump's second term
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump has put Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy in charge of finding ways to cut government spending and regulations. It's possible that their efforts will lead to a constitutional clash. This week, Musk and Ramaswamy said they would encourage the Republican president-elect to refuse to spend money allocated by Congress, which would conflict with a 1974 law that's intended to prevent presidents from blocking funds. If Trump takes such a step, it would quickly become one of the most closely watched legal battles of his second administration. Musk and Ramaswamy also aim to dramatically reduce the size of the federal workforce.