AP Business SummaryBrief at 9:26 a.m. EDT

By The Associated Press

Boeing accepts a plea deal to avoid a criminal trial over 737 Max crashes, Justice Department says

The Justice Department says Boeing has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two deadly crashes of 737 Max jetliners. Now it’s up to a federal judge whether to accept the plea and a sentence that is part of the aerospace giant’s deal with U.S. prosecutors. Boeing’s decision on Sunday came a week after the Justice Department gave the company the choice of entering a guilty plea or facing a trial. Prosecutors say Boeing violated a 2021 deal that had shielded the company from prosecution earlier. Lawyers for some of the relatives of those who died in the two crashes have said they will ask the judge to reject the agreement. One lawyer called it a “sweetheart deal.”

Paramount and Skydance merge, signaling end of a family reign in Hollywood and the rise of new power

NEW YORK (AP) — The entertainment giant Paramount will merge with Skydance, closing out a decades long run by the Redstone family in Hollywood and injecting desperately needed cash into a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape. It also signals rise of a new power player, David Ellison, the founder of Skydance and son of billionaire Larry Ellison, the founder of the software company Oracle. The new combined company is valued at around $28 billion.

Key events in the troubled history of the Boeing 737 Max

Boeing’s 737 Max is a more fuel-efficient version of the American aerospace company’s popular 737, the best-selling airliner ever. Airlines have flown Max jets for just seven years, but in that short time two of them crashed, killing 346 people, and the plane has become a symbol of safety concerns swirling around Boeing. Regulators around the world grounded all Max jets in March 2019, after the second crash. That led to the ousting of Boeing’s CEO. His successor announced plans to step down after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded a particular model of the Max in January, when a panel covering an unused emergency exit blew off an Alaska Airlines Max in flight.

The US housing slump deepened this spring. Where does that leave home shoppers and sellers?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The nation’s housing market sales slump is dragging on into its third straight year, as evidenced by another weak spring homebuying season. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in the March-May period from a year earlier, and early June data point to another down month. The lackluster spring sales are a reflection of the affordability challenges many home shoppers face due to elevated mortgage rates, a shortage of properties on the market and record-high home prices. Economists are projecting mortgage rates will ease modestly by the end of this year. But a small decline in rates may not be enough to improve affordability, and may drive prices higher.

Bloomberg Philanthropies gifting $1 billion to medical school, others at John Hopkins University

Bloomberg Philanthropies is gifting $1 billion to make medical school free at Johns Hopkins University for a majority of students there. Starting in the fall, the gift will cover full tuition for medical students from families earning less than $300,000. Living expenses and fees will be covered for students from families who earn up to $175,000.

Stock market today: Wall Street largely unchanged ahead of big week for earnings, Federal Reserve

Wall Street shifted between tiny gains and losses as earnings season kicks off amid another busy week for Federal Reserve and its inflation watchers. Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average were each up less than 0.1% before the bell Monday. Entertainment giant Paramount Global climbed another 2.1% after it agreed to merge with Skydance. Boeing ticked up about 1% after the aerospace giant agreed to plead guilty to a criminal fraud charge stemming from two crashes of 737 Max jetliners that killed 346 people. Several big U.S. banks along with Delta Air Lines report their latest earnings this week.

King Arthur Baking’s CEO on keeping America’s oldest flour company in the mix

America’s oldest flour company opened in 1790, when George Washington was president. But little could have prepared King Arthur Baking Co. for the coronavirus pandemic, when demand for its products jumped six-fold almost overnight. The employee-owned company scrambled to manage supply chains and to ramp up production. King Arthur CEO Karen Colberg says interest in home baking hasn’t subsided along with the virus and that home bakers are experimenting with more complex ingredients. The company based in Norwich, Vermont, hopes to tap into the ongoing enthusiasm and to grow its market outside of New England by opening a handful of baking schools around the country. Colberg expects the first to open in early 2026.

New British Prime Minister Starmer seeks to improve on ‘botched’ trade deal with European Union

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he would seek to improve the trade deal with the European Union as he began a two-day tour of the U.K. as part of an “immediate reset” with governments in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Starmer said Sunday in Edinburgh, Scotland, that he thinks the U.K. can get a much better deal than the “botched” one negotiated by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Starmer said there were many discussions ahead to strengthen trading, research and defense ties with the EU. But he said those talks had already begun as his top diplomat met his counterparts in Europe.

With Argentina’s president skipping Mercosur, the future of the trade alliance looks doubtful

ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — The most notable thing about the annual Mercosur summit kicking off in Paraguay is an absence — that of Argentine President Javier Milei. He became the first Argentine leader to skip the annual summit since his country’s 2001 financial catastrophe. With the Argentine populist starring at a right-wing rally in Brazil, the Mercosur presidential meeting Monday promised to be much quieter. But South America’s biggest trade bloc, politically divided, notoriously slow-moving and beset by backsliding, faces an uncertain future. Although libertarian President Milei advocates free trade, he has bashed Mercosur as “defective” and advocated pulling Argentina out of the agreement altogether.

Shelter-in-place order briefly issued at North Dakota derailment site, officials say

Officials at the remote site of a derailed train carrying hazardous materials that sparked a fire in North Dakota briefly issued a shelter-in-place notice early Sunday. County emergency management coordinator Andrew Kirking says the notice was issued as a precaution after air monitors detected low levels of anhydrous ammonia. That occurred after a rail car began venting during removal from the site. Exposure to high concentrations of ammonia in the air can burn the eyes, nose, throat and respiratory tract, and even result in death, Kirking says the flames from Friday derailment have been mostly extinguished. No injuries have been reported.