WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration is embracing a curious -- and some would say dated -- argument as it builds its case to weaken federal rules championed by California that require cars and SUVs to average 55 miles per gallon by 2025.

It is warning that the fuel-efficiency targets, seen by most as key to meeting climate and air quality ...Read more

SEOUL, South Korea –– Kim Jong Un's suspension of North Korean nuclear tests has strings attached.

The leader's statement at a ruling party meeting Friday includes a pledge to seek a "favorable" international environment for economic development so that he can put the economy "on an upward spiral track."

That builds on his 2012 vow to ...Read more

After a high-profile battle at one of the nation's most prestigious universities, Harvard student workers have elected to join the United Auto Workers with 56 percent in favor of organizing.

The National Labor Relations Board reported a vote of 1,931-1,523 in favor of joining the Harvard Graduate Students Union-United Auto Workers, ending a ...Read more

Federal health officials have extended their health warning for romaine lettuce grown in the Yuma, Ariz., region. Consumers now are advised to avoid all forms of the lettuce.

Previous warnings highlighted chopped, packaged romaine and salad mixes containing the variety.

The expansion came after prisoners in Alaska fell ill after eating lettuce...Read more

U.S. regulators are reportedly raising objections that Cosco Shipping, a state-run Chinese company, could take control of a container terminal at the Port of Long Beach, Calif., as part of its $6.3 billion acquisition of another company.

The concerns were raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, according to a report ...Read more

Google is launching a new text messaging system for its Android platform to challenge Apple's iMessage in smartphone text messaging supremacy.

With Chat, Google is updating its current Short Messaging Service-run Android Messages app so that it can send and receive high-definition images and videos, set up group texts and allow reading receipts...Read more

Tesla may get an "A" grade for the look of its cars, and the experience of driving one of its vehicles. And when it comes to drumming up publicity, CEO Elon Musk's grades have to be at the top of the class:

But Tesla gets an "F" from the Better Business Bureau, which says Tesla responds poorly to customer complaints.

"They're a fine company, ...Read more

Much of America believed in Facebook as the unassuming social network, connecting friends and family on the internet while protecting their privacy.

That belief has been shattered because of Facebook's entanglement with Cambridge Analytica, a survey released this week says.

The survey from Ponemon Institute -- a Michigan-based research group ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA -- Southwest Airlines has sent passengers of Flight 1380 a letter of apology that includes a check for $5,000 "to cover any of your immediate financial needs" after the plane suffered an engine failure and had to make an emergency landing in Philadelphia.

The letter also says the passengers would separately receive a $1,000 flight ...Read more

Q: In May of 2017, my wife and I purchased a brand new Newmar Baystar Sport Class A Motor Home. The very minute I took delivery and drove past the curb, the Ford Triton V-10 6.8-liter motor would stumble and almost die on takeoff from a stop. It did this on my first two takeoffs from red lights. I immediately returned to the selling dealer, but ...Read more

The senior official at the center of sexual harassment allegations that have rocked one of the world's biggest philanthropic organizations has resigned, marking a swift and dramatic downfall for a Silicon Valley fundraiser credited with helping to raise $8.3 billion.

Mari Ellen Loijens resigned Thursday from Silicon Valley Community Foundation,...Read more

The $1 billion fine levied Friday by federal regulators on Wells Fargo and Co. for its string of customer-abuse scandals certainly sounds like a big number. And compared with the usual wrist-slaps faced by wrongdoing banks, it is a big number.

As my colleague James Rufus Koren reports, the fine announced by the Office of the Comptroller of the ...Read more

Responding to a rash of incidents involving animals on planes, Alaska Airlines plans to impose new requirements for passengers flying with emotional support animals.

Starting May 1, the Seattle-based carrier will require passengers who want to travel with emotional support animals to provide proof that the animal is healthy, well-behaved and is...Read more

CHICAGO -- It seemed like a killer idea: combat sexist harassment in online video games by unleashing hit squads of talented female players to slay the bullies.

But after marketing agency FCB Chicago launched "Bully Hunters" last week with a splashy livestream, the campaign was mocked by gamers, criticized by harassment experts and disowned by ...Read more

Carson's will close its department stores by late summer after more than 160 years in operation.

After parent company Bon-Ton Stores failed to find a bidder willing to keep the business going, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the company's assets, including Carson's and other retail chains, to a joint venture of two liquidation firms and...Read more

DETROIT -- Detroit knows big SUVs.

It knows how to make them and it knows how to sell them.

Automakers based in Detroit or Dearborn have built nearly one of every three large luxury SUVs sold this year. And orders for the Lincoln Navigator and Cadillac Escalade continue to roll in.

Large luxury SUV sales have grown 12.5 percent through March ...Read more

Federal regulators slapped Wells Fargo & Co. with a fine of $1 billion on Friday, punishing the San Francisco bank for abuses that harmed mortgage and auto loan borrowers, and for what regulators said was a pervasive and "reckless" lack of risk management.

The penalty, announced by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Consumer ...Read more

Starbucks plans to close 8,000 U.S. stores next month for an afternoon of racial-bias training. It's a nice first pour.

But it's no more effective than that time the company wanted us all to "Race Together" and talk about bias with strangers over coffee. Racism in America is planted deeper than that.

Two black men were wrongly arrested for ...Read more

For a company nearly left for dead two years ago, Mitsubishi is showing a lot of life.

The Outlander plug-in hybrid on sale now introduces a hot new technology to the compact SUV segment that's taking the market by storm. Outlander plug-in is a five-seat SUV that's about the size of the Chevrolet Equinox, Nissan Rogue and Toyota RAV4.

The ...Read more