U.S. STEEL POURS $1B INTO PA. SITES

U.S. Steel will invest more than $1 billion on state-ofthe-art facilities in western Pennsylvania it says will improve its steelmaking efficiency and reduce emissions at its Mon Valley Works operations, the company said Thursday.

The announcement came just days after two environmental groups sued the steelmaker for violating the Clean Air Act.

Under Trump change, Cuba business partners can now be sued.

MI» On Thursday, MI A

Mickael Behn and Javier García Bengochea filed what were believed to be the first lawsuits against European and American companies doing business on confiscated properties in Cuba.

That’s thanks to the Trump administration’s decision to activate a provision of the U.S. embargo on the island.

Productivity grows at solid 3.6 percent rate.

U.S. productivity grew at a solid 3.6 percent rate in the first three months of this year, the strongest quarterly gain in more than four years and a hopeful sign that a long stretch of weak productivity gains may be coming to an end.

The first-quarter increase in productivity was more than double the 1.3 percent rate of gain in the fourth quarter.

VW jumps on profit gain, sticks to targets amid slowdown.

Volkswagen shares advanced the most in five months after first-quarter profit rose and the German carmaker stuck to annual earnings goals despite a global market slowdown and rising legal costs. The stock jumped as much as 5.2 percent after the world’s biggest carmaker’s operating profit rose to $5.4 billion.

Insurer Cigna beats first-quarter forecasts.

BLOOMFIELD,

» Cigna’s firstquarter CONN . earnings topped analyst expectations, as a major acquisition helped push the health insurer’s net income past $1 billion.

Cigna closed its $52 billion purchase of pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts late last December. The addition helped the insurer’s total revenue more than triple to $37.95 billion in this year’s first quarter.