Business Official TheFoxPosts.com

Prince Harry is seeking 440,000 pounds ($558,000) in his phone hacking lawsuit against the publisher of the Daily Mirror tabloid LONDON -- Prince Harry's lawyer put a price tag Friday on the prince's lawsuit accusing the publisher of the Daily Mirror of hacking his phone and using other unlawful means to dig up dirt on the early years of his royal life: 440,000 pounds ($558,000). The Duke of Sussex’s lawyer submitted the proposed legal award at the conclusion of courtroom proceedings in the first of Harry's cases against the British tabloid press to go to trial. If he managed to win the entire sum, it would be a massive award in the broader phone hacking scandal that has plagued several tabloid publishers. Attorney David Sherborne said in closing arguments this week that there was “hard evidence” Mirror Group Newspapers employed journalists who eavesdropped on voicemails and hired private investigators to use deception and unlawful means to learn about Harry and other cel...

Major revision of data marks the latest sign of resilient economic performance. The U.S. economy grew significantly more at the outset of this year than an initial measurement indicated, according to a major upward revision released on Thursday by the Commerce Department. Gross domestic product increased at a 2% annualized rate for a three-month period ending in March -- a sizable jump from the previous estimate of 1.3%. The fresh measurement slightly exceeds the 1.9% growth that had been originally forecast by economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Despite the upward revision, U.S. economic growth over the first three months of this year was slower than the 2.6% growth in the previous quarter. In turn, that performance was down from 3.2% growth in the previous quarter. The economic growth at the outset of this year was attributed to a rise in consumer spending and export sales, among other factors. An estimate of personal income over that period was revised upward by nearly 10% in the d...

Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile BEIJING -- Threatened by possible shortages of lithium for electric car batteries, automakers are racing to lock in supplies of the once-obscure “white gold” in a politically and environmentally fraught competition from China to Nevada to Chile. General Motors Co. and the parent company of China’s BYD Auto Ltd. went straight to the source and bought stakes in lithium miners, a rare step in an industry that relies on outside vendors for copper and other raw materials. Others are investing in lithium refining or ventures to recycle the silvery-white metal from used batteries. A shortfall in lithium supplies would be an obstacle for government and industry plans to ramp up sales to tens of millions of electric vehicles a year. It is fueling political conflict...

The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell for the third time in as many weeks, a welcome boost for homebuyers facing a housing market that’s been held back this year by a tight inventory of homes for sale LOS ANGELES -- The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate fell for the third time in as many weeks, a welcome boost for homebuyers facing a housing market that’s been held back this year by a tight inventory of homes for sale. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average rate on the benchmark 30-year home loan fell to 6.67% from 6.69% last week. A year ago, the rate averaged 5.81%. The average rate on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with those refinancing their homes, also fell this week, slipping to 6.03% from 6.10% last week. A year ago, it averaged 4.92%, Freddie Mac said. “Mortgage rates slid down again this week but remain elevated compared to this time last year,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist. With the latest drop, the average rate on a 30-...

The U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding $1.7 billion in grants for buying zero- and low-emission buses WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Department of Transportation is awarding almost $1.7 billion in grants for buying zero- and low-emission buses, with the money going to transit projects in 46 states and territories. The grants will enable transit agencies and state and local governments to buy 1,700 U.S.-built buses, nearly half of which will have zero carbon emissions. Funding for the grants comes from the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill signed into law by President Joe Biden. The Democratic president has made it a priority to put more electric vehicles on the road — especially for schools and public transit — in an effort to contain the damage from climate change. “Every day, millions of Americans climb aboard over 60,000 buses to get to work, to school, doctor’s appointments, everywhere they need to be,” Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a call w...

The latest challenge to lithium mining in Nevada in the push for cleaner energy comes from a place where no opposition has arisen before: space RENO, Nev. -- Environmentalists, tribal leaders and others have fought for years against lithium mining ventures in Nevada. Yet opposition to mining one particular desert tract for the silvery white metal used in electric car batteries is coming from unusual quarters: space. An ancient Nevada lakebed beckons as a vast source of the coveted element needed to produce cleaner electric energy and fight global warming. But NASA says the same site — flat as a tabletop and undisturbed like none other in the Western Hemisphere — is indispensable for calibrating the razor-sharp measurements of hundreds of satellite s orbiting overhead. At the space agency's request, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has agreed to withdraw 36 square miles (92 square kilometers) of the eastern Nevada terrain from its inventory of federal lands open to potential mine...

The owner of the Wagner private military contractor who called for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister has confirmed in a video that he and his troops have reached Rostov-on-Don The owner of the Wagner private military contractor who called for an armed rebellion aimed at ousting Russia’s defense minister, confirmed Saturday morning that he and his troops have reached a key Russian city after crossing the border from Ukraine. Yeveny Prigozhin posted a video of himself in Rostov-on-Don at the Russian Military headquarters that oversees the fighting in Ukraine. He claimed that his forces had Military facilities in the city under their control, including the air field. Other videos posted on social media showed Military vehicles, including tanks, on the streets outside. Russia's security services had responded to Prigozhin's declaration of an armed rebellion by calling for his arrest. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took the threat, security w...

Robert Downey Jr. knows he has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars — one he self-deprecatingly refers to as artifacts of his success LOS ANGELES -- LOS ANGELES (AP) — Robert Downey Jr. knows he has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars — one he self-deprecatingly refers to as artifacts of his success. Despite his expectations of what the “accouterments are supposed to be” when one reaches a certain level of fame and wealth, trophies, it turns out for the actor, are not all they are cracked up to be. It's that dissatisfaction that helped to inspire “Downey’s Dream Cars,” his latest project debuting Thursday on Max. “The cash and prizes, it’s never been what motivated me. So, I shouldn’t be surprised that it’s still not,” Downey said at the show's premiere, held last week at the Pet ersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles. While “Downey’s Dream Cars” is very much a show for gearheads, it isn't restricted to that audience. Downey experiments with genre...

The U.S. government is allowing the sale of chicken made from animal cells The U.S. government is allowing the sale of chicken made from animal cells. California companies Upside Foods and Good Meat were granted permission on Wednesday to sell their products by the Agriculture Department. Livestock doesn’t need to be raised and killed to produce this new type of meat, which proponents say is better for the animals and for the environment because land does not need to be cleared for grazing or growing feed. Currently, the U.S. uses over 1 billion acres of land for agriculture, or just over half of total land -- the majority of which is used for grazing cattle. WHAT IS IT? It's meat grown from the cells of Animals in steel tanks. Though it's known in the industry as cultivated meat, it's sometimes called cultured meat, lab- grown meat or cell-based meat. There are more than 150 companies around the world trying to develop these food products. They're working on a v...

Ukrainian officials say the country's air defenses have downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones Russia launched overnight KYIV, Ukraine -- KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drone s Russia launched early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the country’s air protect ion after almost 16 months of war. Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down about two dozen. The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland. The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said. Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infr...

India’s IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus PARIS -- India's IndiGo airline is buying 500 passenger jets from European planemaker Airbus, the two companies said Monday, in a record-setting order that underscores surging demand for air travel fueled by the country's economic growth. IndiGo, India's dominant carrier, is buying the A320 aircraft in what the companies said was the single biggest purchase agreement in commercial aviation history. Executives from both companies announced the deal on the opening day of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event focusing on aviation and space industry. They didn't disclose how much the order was worth, but it would likely amount to tens of billions of dollars. The purchase highlights how the two companies are “democratizing affordable air travel for millions of people in the world’s fastest growing aviation market,” Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Christian Scherer said in a statem...

Climate change is opening up the Arctic, and a $600 million-plus expansion will make Nome on Alaska's western coast the nation’s first deep-water Arctic port ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The cruise ship with about 1,000 passengers anchored off Nome, too big to squeeze into into the tundra city's tiny port. Its well-heeled tourists had to shimmy into small boats for another ride to shore. It was 2016, and at the time, the cruise ship Serenity was the largest vessel ever to sail through the Northwest Passage. But as the Arctic sea ice relents under the pressures of global warming and opens shipping lanes across the top of the world, more tourists are venturing to Nome — a northwest Alaska destination known better for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race and its 1898 gold rush than luxury travel. The problem remains: There's no place to park the big boats. While smaller cruise ships are able to dock, officials say that of the dozen arriving this year, half will anchor offshore. That...

Reddit is facing an ongoing blackout from some of its most active users after it revealed plans to charge some third-party apps for data access WASHINGTON -- If you hopped on Reddit to scroll through your favorite forums this week, you may have encountered “private” or “restricted” messages. That’s because thousands of subreddits chose to go dark in an ongoing protest over the company's plan to start charging certain third-party developers to access the site's data. But Reddit's CEO Steve Huffman told The Associated Press he's not backing off. “Protest and dissent is important,” Huffman said. “The problem with this one is it’s not going to change anything because we made a business decision that we’re not negotiating on.” Organizers of the protest say Reddit's new policy threatens to end key ways of historically customizing the platform using an API, or application programming interface, which allows computer programs to communicate with each another. Third-part...