AP Business Digest

Here are the AP's top business stories that have moved or are planned to move today. All times U.S. Eastern. For up-to-the minute information on AP's coverage, visit AP Newsroom's Coverage Plan.

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UPCOMING

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TAX SCAMS-EXPLAINER

DESCRIPTION: There's a lot of information (and money) on the table when we do our taxes. Unfortunately, that also makes it a prime time for scams. Year-round, fraudsters may use a handful of common tactics to try to steal your identity, money or other sensitive information -- from social media offers that promise a too-good-to-be-true payday, to unsolicited phone calls impersonating a federal agency. As you prepare your annual tax return, experts stress that it's important to be extra vigilant. This year, scammers might take particular advantage of uncertainty spanning from recent workforce cuts at the IRS. Some say those layoffs, and potential for even more widespread reductions, also bring resources into question -- including the agency's bandwidth to respond to scams consumers report.

UPCOMING: By 03/24/2025 12:00 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text

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ANSWERING FOR AMERICA

DESCRIPTION: Answering for America has become an increasingly delicate experience under Trump 2.0. Republican and Democratic expats alike say that the moment they are revealed to be American changes the conversation. Awkwardness, pauses and sometimes unpleasantness ensues.

UPCOMING: By 03/24/2025 1:00 p.m. EDT, Photo, Text, DigitalPlans

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NEW AND DEVELOPING

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FINANCIAL MARKETS

Stock market today: Wall Street gains ground after shaking off four-week losing streak

SUMMARY: Stocks rose in morning trading as Wall Street navigates through uncertainty amid a trade war. The S&P 500 jumped 1.4% Monday. It is coming off its first winning week after a four-week losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.2% and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.7%. Wall Street remains focused on how tariffs could eventually impact inflation, consumer spending and economic growth. Stocks have been riding waves of hope and worry as tariffs are announced, then either implemented or pulled. Genetics testing company 23andme plunged after it announced over the weekend that it had initiated voluntary bankruptcy proceedings.

WORDS: 469 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 10:21 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:be126e0c8bf24d41b4e2b5ee7db0e878&mediaType=text

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US--TARIFFS-POINT ROBERTS

Caught in the middle, this US oddity at the border is grappling with Trump's trade war with Canada

SUMMARY: Point Roberts, Washington, is the rare U.S. exclave so dependent on Canada's goodwill that the strain of Trump's tariff war is inescapable -- in the grocery store, at the pub and for the majority of residents who never voted for the president. Known as a geographic oddity since the boundary with Canada was drawn in 1846, this detached 5-square-mile plot of American land is surrounded by water on three sides and its only land connection is to Canada. Point Roberts has been a cherished getaway destination for more than a century, but today, residents and visitors alike are left wondering what is left of this unusual border town without its beloved northern neighbors.

WORDS: 1302 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 10:20 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:ac8de4b1f6e8ff478a030c234416d6cf&mediaType=text

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EU-SCI--EUROPE-SPACE LAUNCH

A European startup scrubs its attempt to launch an orbital rocket on its first test flight

SUMMARY: A private European aerospace company has scrubbed the first test flight of its orbital launch vehicle. Isar Aerospace says it canceled Monday's attempt to launch its Spectrum rocket from an island in northern Norway because of unfavorable winds. The launch time is subject to weather, safety and range infrastructure. The flight could take place later in the week. The Spectrum is a two-stage launch vehicle designed for small and medium-sized satellites. The startup says it has raised more than $435 million in capital and hopes to build up to 40 launch vehicles per year in the future to put satellites into orbit.

WORDS: 254 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 9:19 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:f3418df5553b8b8ee9aca7f83375aaad&mediaType=text

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23ANDME-BANKRUTPCY

23andMe files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as co-founder and CEO Wojcicki resigns

SUMMARY: 23andMe has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and its co-founder and CEO has resigned as the struggling genetic testing company continues its push to cut costs. The company said Sunday that it will look to sell "substantially all of its assets" through a court-approved reorganization plan. The company also said Anne Wojcicki had resigned as CEO but would remain on the company's board. Her resignation comes weeks after a board committee had rejected a nonbinding acquisition proposal from Wojcicki. Shares of 23andMe have shed nearly all their value since last spring and plunged below $1 in early Monday trading.

WORDS: 312 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 8:58 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:9827549d9171a537e76f60cb950d1823&mediaType=text

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AS--PHILIPPINES-CHINA-TERRITORIAL DISPUTES

Philippine defense chief calls China's claims in the South China Sea 'the biggest fiction and lie'

SUMMARY: The Philippine defense chief has called China's expansive claims in the South China Sea as "the biggest fiction and lie" that no Southeast Asian country will accept. The Philippine defense secretary also said Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping's aggressive policies have undermined the international goodwill fostered by his predecessors. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro fired off his latest tirade against China's increasingly assertive actions in the region on the same day the Philippine coast guard separately reported new aggressive actions by Chinese forces in the Scarborough Shoal. The hotly disputed fishing atoll is the disputed South China Sea.

WORDS: 616 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 8:50 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:6a042bcf422b577458f5e09d4d1622ef&mediaType=text

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US--JAMES HARDIE-AZEK

Another massive deal in the building supply sector as James Hardie offers AZEK $8.75 billion

SUMMARY: Australian building products company James Hardie Industries is buying the US outdoor products maker AZEK in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $8.75 billion. The transaction includes about $386 million in debt. It's the second large deal in the sector in less than a week, with QXO Inc. announcing on Thursday that it was buying Beacon Roofing Supply Inc. in a deal worth about $11 billion, including debt. The US housing sector has been in a significant slump as more would-be buyers are frozen out of the market by sky-high prices and elevatd mortaged rates.

WORDS: 341 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 8:31 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:61aef0f4f873ca346f72596cf7e44345&mediaType=text

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EU--BRITAIN-HEATHROW DISRUPTION

Heathrow defends its response as questions grow about why a fire shut the airport for so long

SUMMARY: Heathrow bosses are defending their response to a fire that shut down Europe's busiest air hub for almost a day. It comes after Britain's energy system operator suggested the airport had enough electricity from other sources to keep running. More than 1,300 flights were canceled Friday after a fire destroyed one of the three electrical substations that supply Heathrow. The chief executive of National Grid told the Financial Times that "each substation individually can provide enough power to Heathrow" to stay open. But Heathrow said safely restarting operations "was a significant challenge." Heathrow says it ran a full service on the weekend and expects to do so again Monday.

WORDS: 450 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 7:29 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:668ed41edff79d2e6f837eae6c41a5b8&mediaType=text

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AS--CHINA-RESTORING RELICS

A mix of science and tradition helps restore relics in China's Forbidden City

SUMMARY: A team of about 150 restorers fuses scientific analysis and traditional techniques to clean, patch up and otherwise revive the more than 1.8 million relics in the collection of Beijing's Forbidden City. They include scroll paintings, calligraphy, bronzes, ceramics -- even ornate antique clocks gifted to emperors by early European visitors. The restorers' objective is to better preserve its artifacts for posterity. Qu Feng, head of the museum's Conservation Department, says restoration techniques have also evolved over the years, though the old ways remain the foundation of the work at the Forbidden City, now a major tourist site in the heart of Beijing that's formally known as the Palace Museum.

WORDS: 475 - MOVED: 03/24/2025 12:59 a.m. EDT

https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search?query=itemid:0a5866bc4735d65861abfa94a48b2578&mediaType=text

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