TRADE DEFICIT NARROWS IN NOVEMBER

The U.S. trade deficit fell 11.5 percent in November to the lowest level since June.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday the gap between what the United States sells and what it buys from other countries dropped to $49.3 billion from a revised $55.7 billion in October.

American exports fell 0.6 percent to $209.9 billion, but imports fell faster, dropping 2.9 percent to $259.2 billion.

Tesla knocks $1,100 off price of the Model 3.

DETROIT» Tesla is cutting $1,100 from the base price of its car designed for the mass market, the Model 3.

The electric car company now says on its website that the car starts at $42,900, still a long way from its goal of lowering the base price to $35,000.

Tesla cut 7 percent of its workforce last month to trim costs and reduce the price of the car.

Craigslist founder donates $15 million for journalism ethics.

» The

. founder of Craigslist says he will donate $15 million to Columbia University and the Poynter Institute for separate efforts promoting ethics in journalism.

The announcement on Wednesday establishes Craig Newmark in the forefront of philanthropists focused on journalism, a cause he’s supported with some $85 million in the past few years. Some in the industry see irony in that, since the online classified advertising site that made him rich took away a lucrative revenue source for many newspapers.

Columbia, with one of the leading graduate journalism programs in the country, will get $10 million to establish the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. The Florida-based Poynter think tank will get $5 million, its largest single donation ever, to offer additional journalism ethics training.

German factory orders slide in December, undercut forecasts.

ERLIN» German B factory orders were down 1.6 percent in December compared with the previous month, official data showed Wednesday — a worse-than-expected performance that adds to worries about slowing growth in Europe’s biggest economy.

Economists had expected a 0.3 percent increase.

However, the Economy Ministry said Wednesday that orders were stronger than previously thought in November — slipping by 0.2 percent rather than the 1 percent initially reported.