AP National Business

BERLIN (AP) — Former Chancellor Angela Merkel has been decorated with Germany’s highest possible honor in recognition of her near-record 16 years at the helm of the country. Germany’s president on Monday bestowed the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit for special achievement on the four-term chancellor. Merkel became only the third ex-leader to

By MIKE SCHNEIDER Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers are ratcheting up pressure on Walt Disney World. They announced on Monday plans to introduce legislation that would end an exemption for Disney parks, allowing the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to inspect Disney rides. The announcement is

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says he wants to reverse an anti-math mindset and require the subject for students until they are 18. Sunak on Monday announced a plan to have students in England study some form of mathematics until they are adults. However, the prime minister acknowledges there are not enough

By PAUL WISEMAN AP Economics Writer The fragmentation of the world economy into rival blocs led by the United States and China threatens to destabilize global commerce, increase inflation and weaken growth, Christine Lagarde, the president of the European Central Bank, warned Monday. Lagarde said that economic data dating to 1900 shows that “geopolitical risks

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — French police say they arrested 13 people after gas and power meters were strewn outside a government building in an unusual trade union demonstration against unpopular pension reforms. The act of disobedience Monday in the southern city of Marseille comes amid an uproarious climate of protest in France sparked by President

By SYLVIE CORBET Associated Press PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron says that he heard people’s anger over raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, but insisted that it was needed. Macron said in a televised address to the nation on Monday that “this changes were needed to guarantee everyone’s pension” after he

By RAF CASERT and ALEKSANDAR FURTULA Associated Press HALLE, Belgium (AP) — Rain or shine, there is no way to keep budding flowers down. And from the world-famous Keukenhof in the Netherlands to the magical bluebell Hallerbos forest in Belgium, they are out there again, almost in cue to enthrall, enthuse and soothe the mind.

By LISA MASCARO AP Congressional Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged on Monday to pass legislation to raise the nation’s debt ceiling — but only on condition of capping future federal spending increases at 1% — as he lashed out at President Joe Biden for refusing to engage in budget-cutting negotiations to

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA Associated Press KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan prosecutors have criminally charged a second government minister with corruption-related offenses in a scandal stemming from the diversion of roofing sheets that should have been distributed to vulnerable people. The state minister for finance in charge of planning pleaded not guilty to the charges when

By TOM KRISHER AP Auto Writer DETROIT (AP) — Ten electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles will be eligible for a $7,500 U.S. tax credit, while another seven could get $3,750 under new federal rules that go into effect on Tuesday. But under the Treasury Department rules and other provisions of last year’s Inflation Reduction Act,

By SEUNG MIN KIM and JOSH BOAK Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s next pick to lead the Council of Economic Advisers is bracing for a barrage of political attacks centered on how the White House has tackled inflation. Jared Bernstein is a longtime member of Biden’s inner circle on economics. But now

By STEVE KARNOWSKI Associated Press MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota announced a settlement Monday in its lawsuit against Juul Labs and tobacco giant Altria — the first of thousands of cases against the e-cigarette maker to reach trial — just ahead of closing arguments. It comes only days after Juul announced its biggest settlement ever over

By GERALD IMRAY Associated Press CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma has been postponed again as he seeks to have the lead prosecutor removed from the case by claming he is biased. Zuma has already succeeded in getting a new judge to oversee his trial.

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press ZOETERMEER, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch national intelligence agency has painted a grim picture of a growing number of internal and external threats to the rule of law in the Netherlands compounded by Russia’s war in Ukraine, international cyber attacks and espionage. In its annual report, the General Intelligence and

CONSHOKOCKEN, Pa. (AP) — David’s Bridal has filed for bankruptcy protection, the second time for the chain in the past five years. The announcement Monday arrives days after the company, one of the largest sellers of wedding gowns and formal wear, said it could eliminate more than 9,200 jobs across the United States. Based in

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) — An American architect of Northern Ireland’s historic 1998 peace accord on Monday urged its feuding politicians to revive the mothballed Belfast government, as a current political crisis clouded celebration of the peacemaking milestone. Former U.S. Senator George Mitchell told a conference to mark a quarter

By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Aviation workers in Nigeria have embarked on a two-day strike, leaving thousands of travelers stranded as airlines canceled or rescheduled flights in the country’s major cities. The strike was declared by seven unions in the aviation industry who accuse the government of failing to release recently

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV Associated Press MOSCOW (AP) — China’s defense minister has toured the top Russian military academy on a visit to the Russian capital that underscores the increasingly close ties between Moscow and Beijing amid the fighting in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin hosted Gen. Li Shangfu in the Kremlin on Sunday, noting that

By Ken Sweet AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Consumer Bankers Association President Lindsey Johnson speaks to The Associated Press about “Twitter bank runs” and how the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are impacting how people see the banking industry.

Bank of America reports its latest financial results on Tuesday. The National Association of Realtors reports existing home sales for March on Thursday. American Express reports financial results on Thursday.

By MONIKA SCISLOWSKA Associated Press WARSAW, Poland (AP) — A project to develop some 20 small nuclear power reactors in Poland is moving forward as Polish energy giant Orlen and two U.S. government financial institutions signed an agreement. Poland, which has traditionally relied heavily on its own coal and Russian energy imports, is seeking a

MUMBAI, India — HDFC Bank: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By THALIA BEATY Associated Press Every day, Americans donate their time, skills and energy to their communities by volunteering with nonprofit organizations. The Associated Press interviewed five volunteers about what motivated them to get involved and why they think more people don’t give their time. Recently released data from the U.S. Census and AmeriCorps showed

By KELVIN CHAN AP Business Writer LONDON (AP) — Norwegian startup Freyr will first build batteries to power electric vehicles and store clean energy in a remote town near the Arctic Circle. Up next? An Atlanta suburb. That’s because a new U.S. clean energy law offers generous tax credits — up to 40% of costs

CHICO, Texas (AP) — Federal transportation officials say they are investigating a train collision and derailment that injured two rail employees in Texas. The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday it was sending a safety investigative team to look into the derailment in Chico, Texas. Union Pacific spokesperson Kristen South says the freight train collided

By The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) — Love isn’t patient, love isn’t kind — at least if you ask the fans of Netflix’s “Love Is Blind.” Viewers had to wait more than an hour to watch the Season 4 reunion special set to stream live Sunday — Netflix’s second-ever live event on its own

By MARK KENNEDY AP Entertainment Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The final curtain came down Sunday on New York’s production of “The Phantom of the Opera,” ending Broadway’s longest-running show with thunderous standing ovations, champagne toasts and gold and silver confetti bursting from its famous chandelier. It was show No. 13,981 at the Majestic Theatre

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has met with China’s defense minister in Moscow. Sunday’s meeting underscored China’s strengthening engagement with Russia. China has largely aligned its foreign policy with Russia in an attempt to diminish the influence of the United States and other Western democracies. Putin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu met

SANDWICH ACADEMY GRANT TOWNSHIP, Maine (AP) — Railway owner Canadian Pacific Kansas City is leading cleanup and track repairs following a freight train derailment and fire in Maine that sent three railway workers to the hospital for treatment, officials said Sunday. The three workers were treated and released Saturday after three locomotive engines and six

By HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Artificial intelligence imaging can be used to create art, try on clothes in virtual fitting rooms or help design advertising campaigns. But experts fear the darker side of the easily accessible tools could worsen something that primarily harms women: nonconsensual deepfake pornography. Deepfakes are videos and

By HANNA ARHIROVA Associated Press KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — More than 100 Ukrainian prisoners of war have been released as part of a major Easter exchange with Russia, a top official said Sunday, as Orthodox Ukrainians marked the holiday for a second time since Moscow unleashed its full-scale war more than a year ago. While

PRAGUE (AP) — Thousands of people have rallied again to protest high inflation and demand the government’s resignation. Sunday’s protest was the second such demonstration in Prague after one on March 11 organized by a new political party known as PRO under an ”against the poverty” banner. The protesters blame the European Union and the

By JARI TANNER Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — Finland’s much-delayed and costly new nuclear reactor, Europe’s most powerful by production capacity, has completed a test phase lasting more than a year and started regular output, boosting the Nordic country’s electricity self-sufficiency significantly. The Olkiluoto 3 reactor, which has 1,600-megawatt capacity, was connected into the Finnish

By FATIMA HUSSEIN Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s that time of year when throngs of taxpayers are buckling down to file their income tax returns before Tuesday’s filing deadline. Many often pay to use software from private companies such as Intuit and H&R Block. Almost one-quarter of Americans wait until the last minute to

By DAVID BAUDER AP Media Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Without citing a reason, the Delaware judge overseeing a voting machine company’s $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News announced late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial until Tuesday. The trial, which has drawn international interest, had been scheduled to start

BERLIN (AP) — The CEO and co-owner of media company Axel Springer apologized Sunday for making crude remarks about “East Germans” in text messages leaked to a rival newspaper. German weekly Die Zeit quoted Mathias Doepfner as saying that East Germans “are either communists or fascists.” The comments prompted sharp rebukes from officials in the

By JON GAMBRELL Associated Press DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has announced the transfer of a 4% stake of the oil giant Saudi Aramco to a subsidiary of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund. The move Sunday further boosts its coffers as the kingdom tries to expand its economy beyond oil.

By LORNE COOK Associated Press BRUSSELS (AP) — In the weeks since Chinese leader Xi Jinping won a third five-year term as president, setting him on course to remain in power for life, leaders and diplomats from around the world have beaten a path to his door. None more so than those from Europe. French

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations vowed Sunday to work to hasten the shift toward cleaner, renewable energy, but set no timetable for phasing out coal-fired power plants as they wrapped up two days of talks in the northern Japanese

By JOE McDONALD AP Business Writer SHANGHAI (AP) — Global and Chinese automakers plan to unveil more than a dozen new electric SUVs, sedans and muscle cars this week at the Shanghai auto show, their first full-scale sales event in four years in a market that has become a workshop for developing electrics, self-driving cars

NEW YORK (AP) — Heardle, the name-that-tune game inspired by the Wordle craze, is being dropped by Spotify less than a year after the music-streaming giant acquired it. “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to say goodbye to Heardle,” Spotify said Saturday in a statement. A similar announcement was posted on the

By MICHAEL CASEY Associated Press Officials say several cars on a freight train have derailed and caught fire in rural Maine. Three railroad workers were hurt, but their injuries were said not to be life-threatening. The Maine Forest Service says in a statement that three locomotive engines and six cars carrying lumber and electrical wiring

HONOLULU (AP) — Demolition will soon begin on a resort once favored by Elvis Presley and other Hollywood royalty before it was heavily damaged by a hurricane three decades ago. The Coco Palms Resort on the island of Kauai will be torn down for a new 350-room hotel, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. The resort is

By KOSTYA MANENKOV and SERGEI GRITS Associated Press IMATRA, Finland (AP) — The construction of barbed-wired fence along Finland’s long border with Russia – primarily meant to curb illegal migration – has broken ground near the southeastern town of Imatra less than two weeks after the Nordic country joined NATO as the 31st member of

By MARCIA DUNN AP Aerospace Writer Elon Musk’s SpaceX is about to take its most daring leap yet with a round-the-world test flight of its mammoth Starship. Monday’s launch attempt was called off because of a stuck valve in the first-stage booster and there could be another try this week. Starship is the biggest and

By CARLOS VALDEZ Associated Press LA PAZ, Bolivia (AP) — Sofia Andrade, a lawyer, chose over the past month to withdraw all her dollar savings from the bank as the US currency became scarce on the streets of Bolivia. “I prefer to have them at home,” she said. “I fear they won’t let me withdraw

BEIJING (AP) — Beijing is protesting U.S. sanctions against additional Chinese companies over their alleged attempts to evade U.S. export controls on Russia, calling it an illegal move that endangers global supply chains. The U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday placed five firms based in mainland China and Hong Kong on its “entity list,” barring them

By ELAINE KURTENBACH and MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press SAPPORO, Japan (AP) — Energy and environment ministers of the Group of Seven wealthy nations met Saturday in northern Japan, seeking to reconcile the world’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels with the urgency of ending carbon emissions to stave off the worst consequences of climate change. The

By DEBORÁ REY Associated Press BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — With trembling hands, the bingo players at a Buenos Aires retirement center put the buttons they use as markers on their cards. Small containers hold their betting money, coins and crumpled low-denomination bills that every day seem able to buy less. The twice-weekly game brings

By MICHELLE L. PRICE Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump says he’s not making much money from his social media network but estimates it is worth between $5 million and $25 million, according to his personal financial disclosure form filed Friday. He owns about 90% of his social media company, Trump

HOUSTON — DXP Enterprises: Q4 Earnings Snapshot

By AMY BETH HANSON and HALELUYA HADERO Associated Press HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Montana’s House gave final passage Friday to a bill banning the social media app TikTok from operating in the state, a move that’s bound to face legal challenges but also serve as a testing ground for the TikTok-free America many national lawmakers

By TARA COPP Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Step into a U.S. military recreation hall at a base almost anywhere in the world and you’re bound to see it: young troops immersed in the world of online games, using government-funded gaming machines or their own consoles. The enthusiasm military personnel have for gaming — and

NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes Friday: Boeing Co., down $11.88 to $201.71. The airplane maker said supplier problems could delay production and delivery of its 737 Max planes. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., down $2.79 to $68.04. The insurer gave investors a discouraging financial update. Lucid Group

The Associated Press Stocks closed lower on Wall Street Friday as worries about interest rates offset an encouraging start to earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies. The S&P 500 lost 0.2% but still squeezed out a fourth weekly gain in the last five. The Dow and Nasdaq fell a bit more. A top Fed

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — The nation’s largest banks appear to be weathering the current turmoil in their industry just fine. Despite a pair of historical failures last month that put the nation’s banking industry into crisis mode, the nation’s biggest banks posted strong profits last quarter, helped by higher

The Associated Press Benchmark U.S. crude oil for May delivery rose 36 cents to $82.52 a barrel Friday. Brent crude for June delivery rose 22 cents to $86.31 a barrel. Wholesale gasoline for May delivery rose 1 cent $2.84 a gallon. May heating oil fell 3 cents to $2.64 a gallon. May natural gas rose

By The Associated Press This week’s new entertainment releases include albums from The Heavy and Rodrigo y Gabriela, a new Judy Blume bio-documentary and video games set in the Minecraft and Dead Island universes. Netflix is also dropping the series “Mrs. Davis” about a nun determined to destroy a powerful artificial intelligence. Also on Netflix,

ESCANABA, Mich. (AP) — A contract worker at a northern Michigan paper mill has died from a fungal infection that has forced the business to temporarily close for deep cleaning. Public health officials in Delta and Menominee counties announced Friday that the worker died as a result of blastomycosis infection. The person’s name and a

By JESSICA GRESKO Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is allowing challenges to the structure of two federal agencies to go forward in federal court. The high court ruled unanimously Friday to allow challenges to the structures of the Federal Trade Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission to go forward in federal

Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The digital media conglomerate Starboard said Friday it purchased the conservative social media site Parler and will temporarily take down the app as it undergoes a “strategic assessment.” The deal came months after another acquisition agreement with rapper Kanye West, legally known as Ye, collapsed in November. The terms

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Federal Reserve official said Friday that there has been little progress on inflation for more than a year and that more interest rate hikes are needed to get prices under control. Christopher Waller, a member of the Fed’s governing board, did not specify how

By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans cut their spending at retail stores and restaurants in March for the second straight month, a sign consumers are becoming more cautious after a burst of spending in January. Retail sales dropped 1% in March from February, a sharper decline than the 0.2% fall in

NEW YORK — Citigroup: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

By KEN SWEET AP Business Writer JPMorgan Chase & Co. posted a 52% jump in its first-quarter profits, helped by higher interest rates, which allowed the bank to charge customers more for loans. The bank saw deposits grow noticeably, as business and customers flocked to the banking titan after the failure of Silicon Valley Bank

By MATT OTT AP Business Writer Wells Fargo beat sales and profit targets in the first quarter of the year, a period that saw the collapse of two banks that rattled the financial sector and the broader stock market. Wells earned $5 billion in the period, or $1.23 per share, handily beating analyst projections. Revenue

By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer UnitedHealth beat first-quarter forecasts and hiked its 2023 guidance for the first time, pushed in part by more growth from its Optum care segment. The health care giant said Friday that revenue jumped 25% from its Optum segment, which provides care and manages prescription drug benefits. Operating earnings from

NEW YORK — BlackRock: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

MINNETONKA, Minn. — UnitedHealth: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

By ELAINE KURTENBACH AP Business Writer OTARU, Japan (AP) — U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm says the Group of Seven wealthy nations can lead by example in cutting carbon emissions, though faster action is needed to stem global warming. Granholm spoke with The Associated Press while touring the world’s first and only liquefied hydrogen carrier,

By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks on Wall Street dipped Friday as worries about interest rates overshadowed an encouraging start to earnings reporting season for big U.S. companies. The S&P 500 fell 8.58 points, or 0.2%, to 4,137.64 after giving up an early gain. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost