Death toll in one of India's worst aviation disasters climbs to 270 as search teams find more bodies

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Search and recovery teams continue to search the site of one of India’s worst aviation disasters for a third day. An Air India flight fell from the sky Thursday, killing at least 270 people on board and on the ground in Gujarat state. The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff. Officials say recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris. The lone surviving passenger is still under observation at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad.

Oil prices leap 7% and US stocks slump more than 1% on worries about the crude market

NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices leaped, and stocks slumped on worries that escalating violence following Israel’s attack on Iranian nuclear and military targets could damage the flow of crude around the world, along with the global economy. The S&P 500 sank 1.1% Friday and wiped out what had been a modest gain for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 769 points, and the Nasdaq composite lost 1.3%. Crude prices jumped roughly 7% because Iran is one of the world’s major producers of oil and fighting in the region could disrupt the flow. Treasury yields rose with worries about inflation.

Consumer sentiment rises for 1st time this year as inflation remains tame

WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer sentiment increased in June for the first time in six months, the latest sign that Americans’ views of the economy have improved as inflation has stayed tame and the Trump administration has reached a truce in its trade fight with China. The preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index, released Friday, jumped 16% to 60.5. The large increase followed steady drops that left the preliminary number last month at the second-lowest level in the nearly 75-year history of the survey. Consumer sentiment is still down 20% compared with December 2024.

Republican enthusiasm for Musk cools after his feud with Trump, a new AP-NORC poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new poll finds Elon Musk has lost some of his luster with Republicans since his public falling-out with President Donald Trump. The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds fewer Republicans view Trump’s onetime government efficiency bulldog “very favorably” now than they did in April. Though most Republicans continue to hold a positive view of Musk, their diminished fervor suggests his vocal opposition to the Republican president’s signature tax cut legislation may have cost him GOP goodwill. Musk called the GOP tax and budget policy bill “a disgusting abomination.” But Musk’s overall favorability hasn’t shifted: Musk remains less popular than his electric vehicle company, Tesla.

Trump clears path for Nippon Steel investment in US Steel, so long as it fits the government's terms

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order paving the way for a Nippon Steel investment in U.S. Steel, so long as the Japanese company complies with a “national security agreement” submitted by the federal government. Trump’s order didn’t detail the terms of the national security agreement. But U.S. Steel and Nippon Steel said in a joint statement that the agreement stipulates that approximately $11 billion in new investments will be made by 2028 and includes giving the U.S. government a “golden share,” or veto power to ensure the country’s national security interests are protected.

Meta invests $14.3B in AI firm Scale and recruits its CEO for 'superintelligence' team

Meta is making a $14.3 billion investment in artificial intelligence company Scale and recruiting its CEO Alexandr Wang to join a team developing “superintelligence” at the tech giant. The move reflects a push by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to revive AI efforts at the parent company of Facebook and Instagram as it faces tough competition from rivals such as Google and OpenAI. Meta announced what it called a “strategic partnership and investment” with Scale late Thursday but didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal. Scale said the added investment puts its market value at over $29 billion.

Shares of meatpacking giant JBS fall in debut on the NYSE

Shares of Brazilian meat giant JBS made their debut Friday on the New York Stock Exchange, dropping 3.9%. Trading in New York has been a long-held goal for JBS, which was founded 72 years ago and is now one of the world’s largest meat companies. Half its annual revenue comes from the U.S., where it has more than 72,000 employees. JBS’s minority shareholders voted last month to approve the company’s plan to list its shares both in Sao Paulo and New York, casting aside opposition from environmental groups, U.S. lawmakers and others who have noted JBS’ record of corruption, monopolistic behavior and environmental destruction.

Air India black box recovered after crash that killed 241 onboard and several others on the ground

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Indian investigators have recovered the digital flight data recorder or the black box of the Air India flight that crashed a day earlier. The crash on Thursday killed 241 people on board and at least five people on the ground. Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that the black box recovery Friday marks an important step forward in the investigation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met with the lone surviving passenger of the London-bound Boeing 787 that struck a medical college hostel when it crashed into a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff. DNA testing was being conducted to identify the victims. More bodies are expected to be found in the search at the crash site.

What to know about the Air India plane crash that killed more than 240 people

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — The Air India plane crash this week was one of India’s worst aviation disasters, killing 241 people on board and several people on the ground. The Air India plane crashed after takeoff Thursday in the northwestern city of Ahmedabad. The crash was the first of a Boeing 787, which began service in 2009. Investigators were searching the crash site Friday, and the investigation is expected to include experts from the plane’s maker Boeing and U.S. aviation regulators. There was no word on the cause or if the flight data and cockpit voice recorders had been recovered.

Immigration raids are threatening businesses that supply America's food, farm bureaus say

VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Federal agents have rounded up dozens of California farmworkers in large-scale raids at packinghouses and fields that farm bureaus say threaten businesses that supply much of the country’s food. Community advocates said several dozen immigrants were arrested after agents raided packing sheds and fields. Many of the arrests took place on farms northwest of Los Angeles. Some farmworkers have stopped showing up for work since the raids began. The California Farm Bureau says it doesn't have reports of widespread workforce disruption. The state grows much of the country's fresh produce.