WASHINGTON — Consumer inflation remained persistently high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said Wednesday in a report that will likely give pause to the Federal Reserve as it considers how often — or even whether — to cut interest rates this year. Prices outside the volatile food and energy categories rose 0.4% from February to March, the…

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida began a much-anticipated visit to Washington on Tuesday that spotlights shared concerns about provocative Chinese military action in the Pacific and at a rare moment of public difference between the two nations over a Japanese company’s plan to buy an iconic U.S. company. Kishida and his wife stopped by the White House Tuesday evening ahead…

SALT LAKE CITY — Reminders of the 2002 Winter Olympics are nestled in every nook and cranny of Utah’s capital city, from a towering Olympic cauldron that overlooks the Salt Lake Valley to an Olympic emblem stamped on manhole covers downtown. As visitors leave the airport, they are greeted with a can’t-miss Olympic arch amid snow-capped mountains in a message essential to Salt Lake City’s…

NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg, a retired executive in Donald Trump’s real estate empire, was sentenced on Wednesday to five months in jail for lying under oath during his testimony in the civil fraud lawsuit brought against the former president by New York’s attorney general. Weisselberg, 76, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of perjury in connection with the suit. He admitted lying when…

LAS VEGAS — Movie theater owners are still feeling the high from “ Barbenheimer.” The counterprogramming of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” brought audiences to cinemas around with the world, ultimately earning nearly $2.5 billion in combined ticket sales. But, gathered in Las Vegas this week for the annual CinemaCon convention and trade show, they’re also acutely aware that they need more than two movies to survive….

LAS VEGAS — Warner Bros. isn’t resting on its “ Barbie ” laurels: The 100-year studio has its sights on a record-breaking 2024 as well, with a release slate that includes a new Mad Max film, “ Furiosa,” Kevin Costner’s two-part Western epic, “ Horizon: An American Saga, ” the “ Beetlejuice ” sequel, and “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which brings Lady Gaga to Gotham…

Global rideshare giant Uber will pay $178 million to settle a long-running dispute with Australian taxi and hire car drivers who lost out when the company entered the Australian market SYDNEY — Global rideshare giant Uber will pay 272 million Australian dollars ($178 million) to settle a long-running dispute with Australian taxi and hire car drivers who lost out when the company entered the Australian…

The Commerce Department releases its monthly tally of housing starts Tuesday A look at some of the key business events and economic indicators upcoming this week TRACKING HOME CONSTRUCTION New government data on residential construction should provide insight into the state of the new-home market. The Commerce Department is expected to report Tuesday that builders broke ground on new apartments and single-family homes last month…

SAN FRANCISCO — Federal prosecutors on Monday painted one-time British tech star Mike Lynch as the ruthless mastermind of an $11 billion deal that defrauded Silicon Valley pioneer Hewlett Packard. But his lawyer depicted him as a visionary who was made a scapegoat for a desperate buyer’s bad decision. The contrasting portraits of Lynch, 58, emerged at the start of a criminal trial revolving around…

HONG KONG — China’s manufacturing and investment improved in the first two months of the year, while weakness in the property sector weighed on the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The report said industrial output rose 7% from a year earlier in January-February, better than analysts had forecast. Spending on factories and equipment, known as fixed-asset investments, rose 4.2%. The real estate…