Business Highlights: Russian coal banned, tech lifts market

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Fed casting its inflation fight as battle against inequality

WASHINGTON (AP) — As the Federal Reserve intensifies its efforts to tame high inflation, its top officials are casting their aggressive drive in a new light: As a blow against economic inequality. That thinking marks a sharp reversal from the conventional view of the Fed’s use of interest rates. Normally, the steep rate hikes that the Fed is planning for the coming months are seen as a particular threat to disadvantaged and lower-income households. Some of the most dovish Fed officials, who typically support low rates to nurture the job market, are now going out of their way publicly to point out ways in which inflation falls hardest on poorer Americans. Curbing high inflation, they argue, is a fairness issue.

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Europe agrees to ban Russian coal, but struggles on oil, gas

The European Union is banning Russian coal imports. It’s a big step because it’s the first time the 27-member European Union has shown…