| | The U.S. Transportation Department said on Wednesday it had fined Panama's Copa Airlines $450,000 for unlawfully transporting passengers between the United States and Venezuela via a stopover point and ordered the airline to avoid future similar violations. | | | The S&P 500 closed lower on Wednesday as news of spiking pandemic data and the prospect of a new round of economic lockdowns dampened investor optimism over signs of economic recovery. | | | Global equity markets closed little changed on Wednesday as a rally on economic and vaccine hopes faded, while fresh coronavirus outbreaks and rising geopolitical tensions in Asia boosted demand for the dollar and safe-haven debt. | | | The U.S. dollar was slightly higher on Wednesday afternoon as evidence of a surge in coronavirus cases in some U.S. states and in Beijing sent investors into safe-haven assets. | | | The U.S. economy is beginning to recover from the worst of the coronavirus crisis, but with some 25 million Americans displaced from work and the pandemic ongoing, it will need more help, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told lawmakers on Wednesday. | | | Banks across the United States are facing a shortage of coins during coronavirus crisis, prompting the U.S. Federal Reserve to ration distribution and work with the U.S. Mint to boost supply. | | | Alphabet Inc's Google on Wednesday announced new goals and policies to address racial issues at its offices, as protests over police brutality against African Americans have carried into discussions about corporate culture. | | | The Trump administration will push for a broad reset of "outdated tariff determinations" at the World Trade Organization to fix what it sees as years of unfair treatment of the United States, a top trade official told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday. | | | The U.S. Justice Department proposed on Wednesday that Congress take up legislation to curb protections big tech platforms like Alphabet's Google and Facebook have had for decades, a senior official said, following through on U.S. President Donald Trump's bid to crack down on tech giants. | | | Bankrupt Hertz Global Holdings Inc on Wednesday suspended its plan to sell up to $500 million in new shares after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) raised objections to the sale, the car rental firm said on Wednesday. | | | PepsiCo Inc said on Wednesday it will change the name and brand image of its Aunt Jemima pancake mix and syrup, dropping a mascot that has been criticized for a racist history, amid a national debate over racial inequality in the United States. | | | | |