Update on the latest in business:

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FINANCIAL MARKETS

Stocks slump, Wall Street heads for another losing week

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are slumping again Friday as the recent sharp surge in interest rates keeps weighing on Wall Street. Some disappointing profit reports from companies also shook what’s been the market’s main pillar of support. The S&P 500 was 1.8% lower in midday trading and on pace to close out a third straight losing week. A day earlier, Wall Street seemed set for healthy gains for the week after more companies reported strong profits for the start of the year. But markets buckled as the Federal Reserve indicated it may indeed hike rates by double the usual amount at upcoming meetings, starting in two weeks.

AMERICAN EXPRESS-RESULTS

American Express profits fall slightly, but spending jumps

NEW YORK (AP) — American Express says its first-quarter profits fell roughly 6% from a year earlier, but the company saw a 30% jump in spending on its namesake cards as its cardmembers returned to their habits of shopping, traveling and dining. The New York-based company posted a profit of $2.1 billion, or $2.73 a share, down from $2.24 billion, or $2.74 a share, a year earlier. Last year’s results had a one-time boost to AmEx’s results, as the company released some of its reserves that it had set aside to cover potential losses earlier in the pandemic.

CLIMATE-CHANGE-PENNSYLVANIA

Big greenhouse gas state taking biggest climate step yet

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — More than two years after he started work on it, Gov. Tom Wolf is set to enact the centerpiece of his plan to fight climate change. It’ll make Pennsylvania the first major fossil fuel state to adopt a carbon-pricing policy. But it might be a short-lived victory. One lawsuit is already challenging Wolf’s regulation and the term-limited Democratic governor might be replaced in eight months by a successor who opposes it. On Saturday, a legislative agency is set to publish Wolf’s carbon-pricing rule on power plants. Mark Szybist of the New York-based Natural Resources Defense Council says it’s the farthest-reaching step being taken in Pennsylvania to fight climate change.

CARBON-REMOVAL-CONTEST

Algae a winner in Elon Musk-funded greenhouse gas contest

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Ideas for reducing greenhouse gas in the atmosphere are getting a funding boost from famed entrepreneur Elon Musk. The Tesla electric vehicle and SpaceX rocket company developer is bankrolling a $100 million XPRIZE competition for the most promising ways to reduce atmospheric carbon dioxide by grabbing the gas out of the air. The 15 initial “milestone round” winners of the contest announced Friday will get $1 million each, helping the teams to carry on with and scale up their work. Winning ideas range from restoring rain forests by farming algae on cleared lands to producing a sort of artificial limestone with a process mimicking ocean chemistry.

MENTHOL CIGARETTES LOBBYING

Plan to ban menthol cigarettes prompts late lobbying blitz

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dozens of interest groups have met with White House staffers to try to influence a long-awaited plan to ban menthol cigarettes. That cigarette flavor is the only one still on the market. It accounts for more than a third of U.S. cigarette sales. The lobbying blitz by anti-smoking groups, retailers and non-profits underscores the political and economic implications of banning menthol. Nearly 40 virtual meetings were scheduled on the menthol issue. More than half of them were requested by groups that traditionally oppose tobacco restrictions. Almost all the groups opposing the ban receive funding from tobacco companies.

EUROPE-TECH REGULATION

EU poised to unveil rules forcing Big Tech to protect users

LONDON (AP) — European Union officials are nearing agreement on a set of new rules aimed at protecting internet users by forcing big tech companies like Google and Facebook to step up their efforts to curb the spread of illegal content, hate speech and disinformation. EU officials are negotiating over the final details of the legislation, dubbed the Digital Services Act. It’s part of a sweeping overhaul of the 27-nation bloc’s digital rulebook, highlighting the EU’s position at the forefront of the global movement to rein in the power of online platforms and social media companies. Negotiators are working to hammer out a deal ahead of French elections Sunday.

INDONESIA-COOKING OIL

Indonesia to ban exports of cooking oil to reduce shortages

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia will ban exports of cooking oil and its raw materials to reduce domestic shortages and hold down skyrocketing prices. President Joko Widodo (JOH’-koh WEE’-doh-doh) announced the policy Friday, a day after hundreds of people protested in the capital against rising food costs. He says the ban will begin next week and will continue for an undetermined length of time. The announcement came three days after the Attorney General’s Office announced a corruption investigation involving a senior Trade Ministry official who is suspected of issuing export permits for crude palm oil and its derivative products that resulted in domestic shortages and sharply higher prices for cooking oil.

FRANCE-GHOSN

France issues arrest warrant for disgraced auto tycoon Ghosn

PARIS (AP) — French prosecutors have issued an international arrest warrant for disgraced auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn (gohn), who fled Japan in 2019 for Lebanon in a gripping escape. The Nanterre prosecutors’ office said Friday that the arrest warrant for the former head of Nissan and Renault is one of five it has issued. It’s based on an investigation opened in 2019 into money laundering and abuse of company assets reportedly over millions in alleged suspect payments made between the Renault-Nissan alliance and Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), a vehicle distributor company in Oman, owned by billionaire Suhail Bahwan. The Nanterre investigation is one of two separate cases involving Ghosn in France, focusing on payments made to SBA.

COSTA RICA - RANSOMWARE ATTACK

Cyber attack causes chaos in Costa Rica government systems

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Nearly a week into a ransomware attack that has crippled Costa Rican government computer systems, the country refuses to pay a ransom as it struggles to implement workarounds and braces itself as hackers begin publishing stolen information. The Russian-speaking Conti gang claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Costa Rican government hasn’t confirmed its origin. The Finance Ministry was the first to report problems Monday. A number of its systems have been affected from tax collection to importation and exportation processes through the customs agency. Attacks on the social security agency’s human resources system and on the Labor Ministry, as well as others followed.