Stocks fall...Meredith to sell Fortune brand for $150 million...France impounds plane on tarmac

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NEW YORK (AP) — Stock indexes are falling in afternoon trading on Wall Street as technology and internet companies take steep losses. Energy companies are also lower as crude oil heads for its 10th drop in a row. The price of oil has been falling steadily since early October and is now trading at its lowest price since March, causing steep losses for energy companies in recent weeks. Stocks have fallen over the last two days but are still on track for strong weekly gains.

NEW YORK (AP) — Media and publishing giant Meredith Corp. says it is selling its Fortune brand for $150 million in cash to Fortune Media Group. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close by the end of the year. Meredith had acquired Fortune as part of its purchase of Time Inc., which closed early this year. Meredith then sold Time in September for $190 million. Fortune's franchises include the Fortune 500, the 100 Best Companies to Work For and other similar titles.

LONDON (AP) — A transport minister in the British government has stepped down to protest Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit plan and is backing calls for a second referendum on whether the country should leave the European Union. Jo Johnson says the withdrawal agreement being discussed by EU and British leaders would be a "terrible mistake" that would leave Britain weaker economically and with "no say" in EU rules it must follow. Johnson is the brother of former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, who resigned in July over the Brexit plan.

GENEVA (AP) — Opponents of Big Tobacco say a decision by the International Labor Organization to stop accepting funds from the industry is a step in the right direction, but are urging the U.N.-backed agency to go further and "completely shut the door." Yesterday the ILO agreed not to renew a contract with Japan Tobacco International next month. A spokesman for the Framework Convention Alliance, which unites some 500 anti-tobacco industry groups, says the ILO move was a "good thing." But the group wants more clarity about ILO plans to enact "appropriate safeguards" about its funding sources.

PARIS (AP) — Storms, strikes, computer failures — and you can now add "your plane has been seized by the government" to the list of things that can delay your flight. In France, 149 passengers were preparing to take off for London late yesterday when French authorities ordered their Ryanair Boeing 737 impounded. The civil aviation authority said the budget carrier owed money and it was "regrettable that the state was forced" to evacuate the plane.