Business Highlights

By The Associated Press

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3 economists who study poverty win Nobel Prize

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a third from Harvard University have won the 2019 Nobel Prize in economics for groundbreaking research into what works and what doesn’t in the fight to reduce global poverty. The $918,000 cash award went to MIT’s Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo and Harvard’s Michael Kremer. The 46-year-old Duflo is the youngest person ever to win the prize and only the second woman, after Elinor Ostrom in 2009.

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‘Nothing-burger’: US-China truce leaves big issues for later

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has heralded a breakthrough in U.S.-China trade talks, and markets rallied in relief over a de-escalation in tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. But closer inspection suggests there isn’t much substance, at least not yet, to the temporary truce Trump announced Friday at the White House after the U.S. and China wrapped up their 13th round of trade talks.

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Do California power shutoffs work? Hard to know, experts say

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Millions of Californians lost electricity last week in an unprecedented effort by utilities to prevent their equipment from starting another devastating wildfire. It was the fifth time Pacific Gas & Electric has preemptively cut the power but by far the largest in order to stave off fires. Experts say it’s difficult to know what might have happened had the power stayed on, or if the utility’s proactive shutoffs are helping California experience a mild wildfire season.

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Wages, pensions, plant investments still issues in GM strike

DETROIT (AP) — As the strike by 49,000 union workers at General Motors hits Day 29, both sides are apart on wages, pensions and new investments in U.S. factories. But they have stopped calling each other names and are talking into the night with few breaks — all signs that an agreement could be near.

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Warren escalates Facebook fight with ad targeting Zuckerberg

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has escalated her tiff with Facebook by running an ad — on Facebook — taking aim at CEO Mark Zuckerberg. It’s the latest example of growing resentment of Big Tech by Republicans and Democrats alike.

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If political talk disrupts a workplace, bosses must step in

NEW YORK (AP) — With the presidential election a little over a year away, business owners will likely start seeing staffers spending more time discussing politics. That can be a problem if the chats cut into productivity. Other bosses find that passions can run high when staffers disagree about candidates and where they stand on issues. But owners have the right to tell staffers that political discussions are banned during work hours — there’s no right to freedom of speech in a private workplace.

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Pomp in London, Brexit talks in Brussels as deadline looms

LONDON (AP) — Britain and the European Union say Brexit talks are making progress but not yet enough to ensure a deal by the end of the month. As the talks were taking place in Brussels, the U.K. government tried to look beyond the country’s stalled EU exit with a pomp-filled policy speech read to Parliament by the queen. Both Ireland and Spain say the Brexit negotiations could well spill beyond this week and go right down to the wire at the end of the month.

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Has tech made moving nukes safe enough? Depends whom you ask

RENO, Nev. (AP) — U.S. officials trying to determine where to ship and store nuclear waste agree with watchdogs that the public has concerns despite their safety measures. But the government says technology has improved how it moves radioactive material. It points to computer models that show transport containers would survive nearly every accident. Critics say officials are relying on computers without actually testing containers to see if they’d fail in a crash, fire, water plunge or act of terror.

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The S&P 500 index slipped 4.12 points, or 0.1%, to 2,966.15. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 29.23 points, or 0.1%, to 26,787.36. The Nasdaq gave up 8.39 points, or 0.1%, to 8,048.65. The Russell 2000 index lost 6.47 points, or 0.4%, to 1,505.43.

The Associated Press

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