Author: News Room

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told lawmakers in responses to questions released on Friday that he would divest his interest in litigation against a major HPV vaccine maker and would sign over the financial stake to an adult son.He also disclosed he had reached at least one settlement agreement with a company or individual that had accused him of “misconduct or inappropriate behavior.” No other details were provided.At his two confirmation hearings this week, several Democrat senators assailed his legal work, which included referrals for lawsuits against a vaccine maker. In the ethics agreement he provided to senators as part of…

If you’re among the millions of people who have downloaded DeepSeek, the free new chatbot from China powered by artificial intelligence, know this: The answers it gives you will largely reflect the worldview of the Chinese Communist Party.Since the tool made its debut this month, rattling stock markets and more established tech giants like Nvidia, researchers testing its capabilities have found that the answers it gives not only spread Chinese propaganda but also parrot disinformation campaigns that China has used to undercut its critics around the world.In one instance, the chatbot misstated remarks by former President Jimmy Carter that Chinese…

The Federal Reserve wants to see more evidence that inflation is easing before resuming interest rate cuts. The latest data presented a mixed picture.The central bank’s preferred inflation measure, released on Friday, climbed 2.6 percent in December from a year earlier, faster than its 2.4 percent rate in November and quicker than the central bank’s 2 percent target. Compared to the previous month, prices are up 0.3 percent.After stripping out volatile food and fuel costs, “core” inflation was 2.8 percent, in line with its previous reading, data from the Commerce Department showed on Friday.Price pressures have been a focal point…

Oil and gas companies in the United States are bracing for the possibility that President Trump will thrust their businesses into disarray and will drive up prices at the pump by imposing 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico.The United States is the world’s largest oil producer, but the country’s refineries are designed to turn a mix of different types of oil into fuels like gasoline and diesel. Roughly 60 percent of the oil that the United States imports comes from Canada, and about 7 percent comes from Mexico. Many refineries are set up to use those imports…

You can still get your tax refund sent to your checking account, say, and then use the money to buy digital I bonds via TreasuryDirect. What’s going away is the ability to fill out a special form with your tax return and have the paper bonds bought with your refund.The change was quietly announced with a website update last year, under the Biden administration.The tax-time savings bond program was begun in 2010 to give tax filers, especially those with low and moderate incomes, a way to buy I bonds with their refunds. But the program “was costly and not frequently…

Online prediction markets soared in popularity last year in the run-up to the United States elections — and then claimed vindication when they appeared to reflect Donald J. Trump’s victory faster than opinion polls did.Now one of the biggest players in the business, Kalshi, is moving to make its contracts available to more bettors looking to wager on some of the biggest events in politics, business and sports — from guessing the correct number of “yes” votes Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will receive in his bid to become Mr. Trump’s health secretary to which companies will run Super Bowl ads.Kalshi…

President Trump has promised to impose 25 percent tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico starting on Saturday, a vow that’s roiling the foreign exchange market. The Times’s Peter S. Goodman, who travels the world reporting on the intersection of economics and geopolitics, breaks down where Trump’s unconventional tariff strategy has left companies scrambling to secure their supply chains.Also, DealBook has two exclusives: Michael de la Merced reports on one of the highfliers of the online predictions market, Kalshi; and Michael Kives’s venture capital firm has reached a big settlement with FTX.When tariffs can hit anywhereEarlier this month, I was…

Mexico’s pitch to companies considering the American market was simple. Worried about vulnerable supply chains? Need to reduce your reliance on China? Want an inexpensive spot close to the United States with favorable trade rules? Try Mexico.Thousands of companies, from family enterprises to powerhouse brands, in Asia, Europe and elsewhere have done just that in recent years. Adidas, Samsung, Honda, Hyundai, Nestle, Volkswagen, Volvo, Lego and more crowd Mexico’s industrial parks.That parade has grown following pandemic-related supply chain nightmares and increasing political tensions between the United States and China. Canada — a key partner in the North American production network…

High inflation is stoking fresh debate about how the Federal Reserve should respond to President Trump’s sweeping plans to reorder the world economy through tariffs, leading to questions about whether old playbooks still apply.On Saturday, Mr. Trump is poised to impose 25 percent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada as well as an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods. That move comes on the heels of threats to impose hefty tariffs on Colombia, which were rescinded after its government complied with Mr. Trump’s demands to accept deported migrants.Howard Lutnick, Mr. Trump’s nominee to oversee the Commerce Department and…

Staffing at the air traffic control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.This increases the workload for the air traffic controller and can complicate the job. One reason is that the controllers can use…